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This broadcast from Liberty and Prosperity discusses local Atlantic County issues, national politics, and cultural shifts. The group meets every Saturday morning at Sal’s Coal Fired Pizza in Somers Point, NJ.
Local and Legal Issues
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Marty Small Trial: The speakers discussed the recent acquittal of Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small. They argued the case was politically motivated, comparing the situation to the legal challenges faced by Donald Trump and highlighting the difficulties of parenting teenagers in the public eye.
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Business Closures: The upcoming closure of Big Wally’s Furniture in Somers Point was presented as a symptom of a broader social issue. The speakers noted that younger generations often lack interest in taking over established family businesses, leading to the loss of local economic “backbones”.
Technology and Education
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Digital Learning: Based on observations of grandchildren in Florida, the speakers critiqued the use of tablets and “educational” games in schools. They argued these apps prioritize button-mashing over “persistence” and critical thinking, which they believe are the true keys to success.
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Media Influence: The speakers expressed concern over children’s media, specifically mentioning the “K-pop Demon Hunters” cartoon. They critiqued its departure from traditional values and the perceived sexualization of characters at a young age.
National Political Climate
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Republican Fracturing: The news of Elise Stefanik leaving Congress was interpreted as a warning sign for the GOP. The speakers described a blood-bath scenario where internal party splits between various media-driven factions make it difficult for candidates to secure nominations and win general elections.
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Messaging Failures: Regarding Donald Trump’s immigration policies, the speakers argued he is not receiving “credit” for enforcement because he hasn’t effectively explained the why behind his actions. They compared this to Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign, suggesting that if leaders don’t explicitly link policies to outcomes (like high utility rates), the public will remain s
Jury Did Right Thing In Finding Mayor Marty Small “Not Guilty”.
TRANSCRIPT OF RADIO INTERVIEW:
SETH GROSSMAN: I agree all four points you raised: #1. Political. #2. Raising Teens. #3. Government Interfering with Families. #4. Like What They Did To Donald Trump.
#1. Political: I said from the very beginning, if Marty Small had been anything other than the Democratic mayor of Atlantic City feuding with a Republican prosecutor handpicked by Senator Vince Polistina, would these charges have been brought? And I kept saying to myself, no, they would not.
.#2. I was a parent who raised teens. I probably didn’t do what Marty Small did, but at times, I sure felt like doing it. And, and, you know, it’s just a very difficult job to raise any teens, including teenage girls.
#3. I am sick of how the government interferes with parents raising children ins so many ways. It happens so often in very subtle ways. I’m convinced that the reason the schools use all these different terms to teach, say, arithmetic or teach, any subject, they deliberately want the parents to appear stupid.
They don’t want parents to say, “Oh, I can help you with your homework”. They teach kids completely different methods than what we, our parents and our grandparents learned.
When it comes to the sexual materials that they use to teach the kids, they tell the kids, “Your parents don’t know anything. Don’t trust them. Talk to your teacher. Confide in your teacher. Confide in your school nurse. Don’t deal with the parents.
It’s all part of a systematic campaign by the so-called “educators” shove parents aside and keep them in the dark. And when parents do try to get involved, when they try to actively raise their kids the way they think is best, these “educators” use all sorts of methods to cause needless conflict between kids and their parents. So the kids get defiant and the parents sometimes feel a need for harsher discipline.
And when I saw all these things, they reminded me a lot of how Democrats came after Trump. I felt they abused the legal system to destroy a political opponent.
JOHN DEMASI: Yes. I I I agree. You know? And I I said that from the very beginning that, I thought he was he was going to be acquitted, but, and and then when the jury, you know, they started asking questions and, you know, this whole thing about the broom and the it it just seemed like a he said, she said.
SETH GROSSMAN: And so, that it almost sounds like what every parent of every teenager has gone through at some point in that long and painful process.
BIG WALLY’S FURNITURE STORE: Another Successful Family Business Closing Down For Good.
SETH GROSSMAN: Big Wally’s Furniture Store going out of business in Somers Point. To me, this is more than just a business issue. I think this is part of a bigger political and social issue. We have countless small businesses. And, obviously, the people who run the businesses get old, they retire.
,But in the past, they didn’t all just go out of business like this.
JOHN DEMASI: Why is that?
SETH GROSSMAN: I don’t have any inside knowledge of this situation. I don’t know the owners. But I know a lot about other family businesses that shut down during the past twenty years. Partly, it’s because our Boomer generation didn’t have a lot of kids. Many didn’t have any kids. A lot of kids never got married, and never had their own kids.
And many who do have kids and grandkids are finding that they don’t want grandpa’s business. They don’t want dad’s business.
It used to be, well, if your own kids or grandkids don’t want to take over your business. someone else would come in and buy it. You would teach them the business, and they would buy your store, buy your inventory and you’d introduce them to your customers.
For many people the sale of the business they spent their lives building up was most of what they needed for a comfortable retirement. But now many of them just walk away after selling their equipment and inventory and empty building for pennies on the dollar.
And I think that’s a a social thing. I think that’s a political thing. We have taught our children to run a small business or even how to run a small business. We have high paid government officials and inspectors who do nothing but fine business owners and shut them down for not following rules that make no sense.
We have taught our young people to find themselves instead of planning, and training, and working to provide other people with things and services they need and want to pay for.
lWe have taught young people to expect and demand things and to be entitled to things. However, we have not taught them what needs to be done to earn these things. Whatever it is, our schools and our culture are not preparing young people to accept the responsibility of running small businesses like Big Wally’s and businesses like Big Wally’s are the backbone of America.
So it’s something we’re losing, and and I just think it’s a tragic situation that very few people talk about.
JOHN DEMASI: How do we fix that? Do you know what we can do?
SETH GROSSMAN: I don’t know. However, we can’t fix something if we don’t know about it. And the first step to get people to know about a problem is to talk about it like we are doing right now.
Meanwhile, I I was away for to spend Hanukkah with my grandkids in Florida. So I want to give a heads up to my Boomer friends celebrating Christmas. And that is find out what toys your grandchildren are getting and watch the YouTube video tutorials on how to play with them. Because if you don’t, you’re going to be totally helpless.
For Hanukkah last week, my grandkids were all fascinated with this electric electronic hamster in a ball and several electronic dogs. I didn’t have a clue as to what to do with any of them until I spent about an hour and a half watching these YouTube videos on how to operate them.
So I just wanted to give you all a heads up before you have to deal with this on Christmas.
JOHN DEMASI: That that’s a new thing. That’s another thing we have to do. Right? Yeah.
SETH GROSSMAN: And there’s something else. I was dealing with a kindergartner and a first grader, you know, six years old and seven years old. This is in the Florida public school, so I’m pretty sure it’s the same all over. So already, they have their little computer tablets. They have their user IDs. They know their passwords. They know how to get to their portal and and log in.
On the one hand, it’s it makes it easy for the parents and grandparents because it keeps the kids busy for a little bit. But, you know, as I watch closely, we really have to watch out for these so-called video education games. In my opinion, they are really not education.
Here’s why. When you think about it, the most valuable skill that you could possibly learn in school, and in life, is persistence. If you want to do something you don’t know how to do, or know something you don’t know, the key to success is to think. You have to work out the problem in your head. You think of what you know, what you don’t know. You try something. Does it work? If not, you try something else. Eventually, you solve the problem and you make yourself smarter.
When you are educated by computers, this doesn’t happen. I see the kids just randomly pushing buttons until the right answer pops up. But being educated is not knowing the right answer. Being educated is knowing how to find the right answer.
So we are not educating our kids and not helping our kids when we teach them to just push buttons on a machine programmed by somebody else to find the right answer. We are teaching them that you can succeed without thinking, without patience, without overcoming obstacles. without working out plans. You just push buttons until a machine tells you what is right and what is wrong, what you need to do. I think that’s a very dangerous trend. I wonder if other parents and grandparents see it the same way.
JOHN DEMASI: Yeah. That that that is disturbing. Yeah. It really is. I agree with you.
SETH GROSSMAN: And and and by the way, to to to show how totally out of touch I I was, you know, the six year old and the seven year old are enamored with these cartoon figures called the “K Pop Demon Hunters. Have you ever heard of them? ]
JOHN DEMASI: Yes. I heard of them. Yes.
SETH GROSSMAN: The hero is Rumi. And again, as far as it takes every traditional value, turns it on its head. The girls win everything. There’s There’s no place for boys. Many of the girls have purple hair, other weird colors. They’re highly sexualized even though there are no boys in the picture.
Even as such a young age, six years old, seven years old, they’re already turning to a culture where we, the adults, at least the Boomers, just have no idea of what’s going on. And I think that’s by design. So, it’s not enough to relax and wash the dishes or check your email when you see your, five-year-old, six-year-old, seven-year-old, watching cartoons and playing these video games on their personal computers. Every parent, every grandparent really has to have a close look att what they’re watching, and, and interact. Just talk to them. Ask them what is this character doing and why are they doing this?
JOHN DEMASI: Yeah. We got to be very careful as to who’s raising our kids.
SETH GROSSMAN: So I had a lovely time with my grandkids. But you have to be alert all the time. Yes. That’s right.
JOHN DEMASI: Well well, my niece won’t let her kids watch that.
SETH GROSSMAN: Well, that’s good. So whatever she thinks of on politics, she’s on the right track in raising her kids.
Meanwhile, so many other things going on that that I watch from a distance. I guess Elise Stefanik, the, very bright, Republican, congresswoman in New York, announced, I guess yesterday, that she wasn’t running for, governor after all and that she’s put in Congress. And that should be a very, very serious warning sign of of the bloodbath that Republicans are going to be facing, unless we get a handle on on delivering a message and and just reaching, you know, reaching people because I just don’t feel we’re doing that right now. And, obviously, Elise Stefanik, after spending years and years and years preparing for a career in congress, preparing to run for governor. When she decides well, I’m not going to run, it’s not that she’s not running that’s not that that’s important. It’s why she’s not running. And I think she’s not running because she knows that at this point, she doesn’t stand a chance of winning. Even to to get the Republican nomination, she’d have to fight in a primary election because the Republicans, are split in so many different ways between the, you know, the Tucker Carlson, Candace Owen, and Megyn Kelly faction on one side, Ben Shapiro, Barry Weiss, Megan McCain on the other. We saw this at the Turning Point USA event last week.
I think, Elise Stefanik said, well, gee, I’m going to beat my brains out just to get the nomination. And then I I win the nomination. I’m going to get clobbered by the Democrats in November. S, so why bother? At least that’s my take on it. And I’m just curious what others are thinking. I agree with you, you know, and I found that very disturbing, you know. And, and by the way, to answer the question that came up last week, yeah, one of the things that Trump is doing in an outstanding manner is, enforcing immigration laws and the fact that we don’t have a problem, at the border anymore, and we are deporting a whole lot of dangerous people. But you and some others asked the question, well, why isn’t Trump popular? Why isn’t he getting any credit for it?
I think Trump keeps putting himself in the same situation as Jack Ciattarelli. Ciattarelli never explained how Democrats caused electric rates to go up or how Republicans would bring them back down. If people have a big problem, you can’t expect them to support a leader, if that leader is not explaining how he or she will fix the problem. So because Ciattarelli never said in his TV commercials to independent voters that your electric bills are high because Murphy shut down six power plants. And if you vote for me, I’m going to rebuild those six power plants.
We talked about it all the time on this radio program, and Ciattarelli did to. But he didn’t talk about it to independent voters and Democrats.
It’s the same thing with Trump and immigration. We said for years that, enforcing immigration laws was going to be a dirty, ugly business to watch on TV. You’re going to see, people arrested. You’re going to see crying women. You’re going to see crying children. But if we don’t enforce our immigration laws and enforce our laws and enforce our borders, we don’t have a country. And so Trump is doing exactly that, but Trump never said why he’s doing it. He would say stuff like, well, we’re gonna get rid of the worst deal worse. We’re gonna get rid of the criminals. We’re gonna get rid of drugs.
So, when people see, like, just an ordinary person, getting dragged out of a Home Depot, someone who is there because he is out looking for work, people are saying, well, wait. Trump said he was just going after the worst of the worst. Here’s just an honest guy trying to make a living. So, because neither Trump nor the other, top people like Holman said, this is why we have to do it. We could have a zillion people at the border. We could have a wall 50 feet high. But unless we arrest illegals who are always already here, we can never enforce the border. So,
because Trump and his top people never delivered that message, Trump is not getting the popularity he should get for the great job he did in ending illegal immigration.
