new in the new season. Now on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMA L app. O'Connor in company. U. M A L. The time is 607 this Wednesday morning. 15th day of April. Thanks for starting your day with us here on O'Connor in company coming up at 635 Cal Thomas will join us at 705 removing Veterans Day from the school calendar, of course. 735 brings us Maryland State Senator Justin Reedy on the closing of the Maryland General Assembly. Check your wallets, everybody. And then at 805, Jonathan Fahey, former federal prosecutor. Talk about Steve DiSconno testifying on Capitol Hill today. It's Larry O'Connor with Cassie Smedley. Good morning, Cassie. Good morning, Larry. I don't think anybody will ever confuse me with a military expert. I am not. But unlike all of the people that you're seeing on your social media feed right now and on cable news, I will say it up front and tell you that I am not a military expert. Everybody else appears to suddenly be a military expert. You know, the same ones who were legal experts a minute and a half ago when they came to some Supreme Court decision. But doesn't that get maddening as a consumer of news and information to see these people act like they're not a military expert? No, what else in expertise and you know they're not? Yes, that you know that they just rate well or that they look pretty saying it. Yes. Well, I do rely on experts though when you pick and choose who you listen to and who you believe. You rely on experts who have been right about things in the past. That's a good measure, I think. Good start. And people who have some level of humility when they bring it. But then also when you look at information, you look at things, you have to just filter through the eyes of common sense and based on all of that and that preamble to set this up, I just want you to know that based on my observation and yes, I have a bias here. I want the administration to succeed. I want our military succeed and I want Iran to be defeated based on all of that. It sure looks like this blockade is working. This is the President Trump's decision and his order after the breakdown of the negotiations in Islamabad over the weekend to have the United States Navy blockade US oil ports and other Iranian oil ports and other Iranian trade ports so that by confining the Iranian ships and Iranian activities at their ports with our blockade, it allows the Navy now to patrol the Strait of Hormuz, clear out mines, God forbid if they are there, and allow ships to go through. And don't take my word for it. Take a look at your 401k results yesterday because I don't know about you, Cassie. I've got some pretty basic broad market funds right now for my retirement because I'm not that close to retirement. And as of now, my numbers are actually higher than they were when the war started. That tells me the impact has not been too bad on Wall Street and on investments. And I know the economy has a lot more to do with things than just how Wall Street responds, but that's a big measure. And so far in terms of the free flow of ships going through the Strait of Hormuz, it looks like the light is at the end of the tunnel based on the first 48 hours of this blockade. Hopefully I'm in that phase of life where I just don't look at my 401k. I just like the volatile. You've got a little more time than I do. A half a minute more. But to your point, Larry, everything that you just outlined, okay, good, that makes sense. That seems like that's working according to a plan, perhaps. And yet what was the headline? Everything you heard all weekend of JD Vance coming back from Pakistan, no deal, unable to secure a deal, administration floundering, trying to look for an exit strike failed. Iran is winning. That was my favorite. Iran's better off than they were before. It's like, what? They have no Navy. They have no Air Force. Their infrastructure is being depleted. Their inflation, there are reports now that inflation in Iran is at 180%. That's almost Biden level inflation. Okay, maybe it's a little worse. Maybe it's a little worse than the CPI. Dramatic now, Larry. They're going to start listening to you. Here's the statement last night from Admiral Brad Cooper, Suncom commander, blockade of Iranian ports has been fully implemented as US forces maintain maritime superiority in the Middle East. An estimated 90% of Iran's economy is fueled by international trade by sea in less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented. US forces have completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea. That'll leave a mark. Steven Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff was on Jesse Waters last night, and he sounded like a man who has the taste of victory on this campaign. Take a listen. President had no plan to secure the straight and looks like it's going pretty well. Never listen to a panicking, Jesse. You will do very well in life. Ignore the panic kids, right? They were the ones who warned of calamity in Venezuela and ended up being one of the greatest single foreign policy military geopolitical maneuvers in world history. What you're watching now in Iran with the implementation of this blockade is the total resetting of the American power dynamic for the next 100 years. President Trump is saying we, the United States, have the world's not just most powerful military, most powerful Navy. That's true. And whoever controls the seas is able to control the outcomes in any foreign policy showdown. And so President Trump has put Iran in a box. He's played the checkmate move. And so now, no matter what path Iran chooses, America wins. All right. There's a couple more. But that sounds like a pretty confident triumph. And Steven Miller there. He doesn't always have that tone. Let's face it. He's oftentimes guilty of being too frank, I think, about where things stand right now. Also, in addition to this blockade being incredibly successful and markets responding, and now it looks as though we'll be able to control the hormones for peaceful purposes, you also have an increase of over 50% of the work, excuse me, an increase of 50% of tankers and other cargo ships all heading to the Gulf of America ports, tankers that would have been going to refill with oil from the Middle East. Now Saudi Arabia does not like that. That's fine. Saudi Arabia can join the fight if they'd like. But in the meantime, there is one place where it's really free and easy to get really nice, light, sweet, crude oil that happens to be the Gulf of America, Louisiana, Mississippi. It's our oil. And they're all heading our way, Cassie, or a good chunk of them. This is, I mean, again, I'm trying to be skeptical, but I don't see a downside at the moment. And until, perhaps, Iran gets lucky with a missile or a drone, I don't know. Our Navy's been pretty good at swapping them down up until now. Let's see. I'm with you, not ready to put up a mission accomplished banner, but first of all, let's hear it for the Navy. Let's hear it for our military. I'm old enough to remember during the Biden admin when you only talked about DEI when it came to the military and mandatory ally training or whatever. And now you're just seeing the true power might strategy of our military, which is very encouraging as we go through this conflict. But yes, the report about the, I think, 120, 121 empty vessels heading to the Gulf of America to fill up with our, so now President Trump has created or expanded the market for exporting so that we're no longer primarily importing our oil, but now we're becoming a primary exporter as well from any countries. Yeah. And listen, yeah, 100% right. And here's another indication that seems, you know, the talks broke down and Iran is winning and they are in a better position and the Trump is flailing and there's no deal. It looks like there's going to be a new negotiations less than a week since the so called breakdown. Is that really if Iran's in such a power position, why are they demanding to go back to the table? They are in a world of hurt. And the next thing that needs to happen as soon as the Iranian people feel confident that they're not going to be mowed down in the streets is that the people need to make a change in that country. I feel like we've given them a lot of tools and a lot of opportunities. And now according to President Trump telling reporters yesterday, there's another round of around negotiations coming. He says it could be happening over the next two days in Islamabad. According to the president telling New York Post, he says discussions were happening, but you know, a little bit slow before indicating that a second round of direct negotiations to end the seven week war would likely happen. Oh, he said somewhere in Europe, look for Geneva. It looks like it's between Islamabad and Geneva. If they want the vice president to be there, it's going to have to be Geneva because Islamabad has way too many security concerns. They were there. They tried the first time. Let's get to Geneva instead. But either way, it sure looks like this is a successful endeavor for the military so far. And seven weeks, that's a pretty short amount of time to upend this regime if that's what the end goal is. At the very least, their military has been so debilitated. There's also indications by the way that Russia has said that they will take the custody of the uranium that the Iranians have. I know there's some complications there, but they're one of the few countries who could take it because they have facilities to be able to protect uranium. That could be a key sort of path to a settlement here because we're just like, oh, who's going to get the uranium? Iran doesn't want to hand it over to the US. Iran doesn't want to relinquish it at all. The fact that there's even negotiations about Russia taking the enriched uranium at this point and taking custody of it tells you that Iran is open to the idea of relinquishing that uranium. That's huge. Absolutely. That would be huge. And a little bit of the devil you know situation of putting Russia on the table as an as an acceptable option to both. That's interesting. I'm with you really quick on the Iranian people that it needs to be theirs to take up. They need to feel confident that they have the support and protection of the US but surrounding countries to do it because these reports of what's happening to these poor Iranian people who are standing up, that's going to be that is true acts of bravery and heroism for them to take this on. So that is the next tough piece of this. It seems like the only power the Iranian government such as it is and I don't even think there is a centralized government at this point. I think it's you know little fiefdoms that are trying to just sort of fill the power vacuum. The only power that they still have here is the tyranny they have over their own people. But there's no there's no you know real projection of power to their neighbors or to the United States or Israel certainly. So that's the next thing that needs to break now that their economy is breaking. I suspect because as soon as you stop, you're unable to pay all of those you know cops or whatever you want to call them that enforce the laws within such a critical way. You know, things start to fall apart. It's 617. The countdown is on for the 2026 NFL draft presented by Bud Light. Catch all seven rounds three days live from Pittsburgh April 23rd through 25th. Watch every pig live on NFL Network ESPN and ABC. NFL Network is also streaming with NFL Plus. It all starts Thursday April 23rd at 8 p.m. Eastern. Visit NFL dot com slash draft for more information subscription required for NFL Plus. Visit plus dot NFL dot com for terms. Hey there. I'm Paula Pan. I help people make the smartest money decisions possible. Do not ever worry about your salary. You need enough to make sure that you aren't in a bad financial position. Once you have that your salary becomes moot. What matters from that point forward upside gains any type of ownership stake or ownership potential. That's the money. Remember you can afford anything just not everything. Afford anything. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Vice President JD Vance. I'm told is not a supporter of this military effort. Although every public statement that he gives is contrary to that and he supports the president. It's a bad precedent that suddenly if it's suggested that one of the president's advisors may have you know warned against you know or raised the you know you always want some people in the room as you're making a big executive decision a critical one to raise all of the pitfalls and all of the roadblocks and say maybe we shouldn't do this. Here's a good reason why not to. Apparently JD Vance was that guy based on a lot of accounts. But he has not said every time and when asked about it he just says my private advice to the president is private and it will always stay private. But when a decision is made I support and back up that decision. That's exactly what you want at the executive level. It's exactly what you want. And so and by the way if that's the measure then Joe Biden never wanted Osama bin Laden to be killed because we're told Joe Biden warned against it and advised Obama not to do it right. Yes that was the exact thought going through my head. Yes. Was he punished politically for that. No they loved it. They loved Joe right. So please stop. The way like the single greatest decision Barack Obama made maybe the only good decision he made was to send the seals in and get Osama bin Laden. And by the way Republican celebrated that. We could set aside our Obama derangement syndrome for a moment would be great if the left could do that with this campaign against Iran. All that being said JD Vance I think is equipping himself pretty well here as the vice president and a supporter of the president's policies especially if you believe the reports that he doesn't fully support them. And to that end he was at an event for turning point USA last night. I'm told young people are very concerned about this. It doesn't pull well with young people mostly because young people are afraid they're going to get drafted. Guys we haven't had a draft since Vietnam. Don't I know you need to register. I had to register too and I never got drafted. OK. Our military has got it right now. We don't need you quite yet. Take a listen to JD Vance yesterday responding to challenges over the current military effort in Iran. That a lot of young voters don't love the policy that we have in the Middle East. OK. I understand that. I also know that we've secured the border. We've lowered housing prices now for eight months in a row and there's going to be more to come beyond that. We've made America energy dominant which is lower to electricity costs and things like that. We've made it so that we have the lowest murder rate in 127 years. I'm not saying you have to agree with me on every issue. I'm not saying you have to agree with me on every issue. What I'm saying is don't get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic. Get more involved. Make your voice heard even more. I like that. Listen. We're doing a lot of great stuff. You don't like this one thing. Fine. Get engaged and get. Don't just sit on the sidelines and start screaming and heckling. Then the vice president recent convert of Catholicism has a book coming out about it was challenged about Pope Leo's remarks regarding the war. There's a shock of Pope in the 21st century is against a war. They really haven't been for a war since their own wars of the Crusades. That's another story. Here's JD Vance responding to that. The when that when the Pope says that God is never on the side of those who will the sword. There is the thousand year of more than a thousand year tradition of just war theory. OK. Now we can of course have disagreements about whether this or that conflict is just. But I think that it's important in the same way that it's important for the vice president of the United States to be careful when I talk about matters of public policy. I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology. And I think that one of these issues here is that there has been is again. Hey, random dude screaming. I told you I'd respond to your point. I just want to respond to this question first. But one of the issues here is that if you're going to opine on matters of theology, you've got to be careful. You've got to make sure it's anchored in the truth. And that's one of the things that I try to do. And it's certainly something I would expect from the clergy, whether they're Catholic or Protestant. Yeah, well said. By the way, Luke 2235, Jesus tells his disciples, let the one who has no sword sell his garment and buy one. But don't let that get in the way of the conversation. I do like, hey, random dude screaming at me. Can you please just give me a minute? He's good in these settings. Got to say. And you know, if you think about it, we haven't seen the vice president in these settings in a minute in his bread and butter areas. I know they plan or it's been reported that they plan to really utilize them on the campaign trail this fall. And that will be a good thing. This message right here is a really good message for folks who are feeling not buyer's remorse, but are like, I'm not quite sure this is what I voted for. But I know for sure I'm glad Kamala Harris is in our president and reminding you of that and pointing out all of the good and the aggregate that we are moving in the right direction and clawing back all of the bad. But I got to say, I was glad to hear him say this. I was a little concerned how the admin was going to tackle these exact concerns and are these exact in his doing a great job. We all should be. I support the administration. But when it comes to using our military, from someone who is personally very affected by the use of our military as we speak, I always going to we should all remain skeptical and supportive. You can do both at the same time. And finally, somebody wanted to complain about Gaza. And boy, this was a mistake to suggest that in some way the Trump administration is supporting, as they call it, a genocide in Gaza. Take a listen to this. This is brilliant to respond to this guy here. He said, I believe he said the administration supports a genocide in Gaza. And here's my response to that. When we came in, the humanitarian situation in Gaza was an absolute catastrophe. You know, who's the person who got a peace agreement in Gaza? Donald J. Trump. So if you want to complain about what happened in Gaza. So if you want, sir, to complain about what happened in Gaza, why don't you complain about Joe Biden and the last administration? We're the administration that solved that problem. You know, as a Republican, as we I know we've got our sights set on the midterms right now, but there is going to be then suddenly primary season and nomination season for 2028. I am fascinated to see what happens here between Vance and Rubio and and and and the person behind door number three, because it's no one's just going to sit back and say, OK, go ahead and take it. No, we're going to have a fight in our hands. And boy, have we got some superstars to engage in that fight. Completely agree. And again, it's one of those where I hear one talk and I go, that's who I want. And then I hear those are going to go, OK, great, too. So I'm here for it. It's an embarrassment of riches. And they're all pretty young, too. You know who you know who the number other than Kamala Harris, you know who else probably has the best shot at getting the nomination for the Democrats? Bernie Sanders. It's 625. Or devolution 637 is the fine line between evolution and devolution. Cassie Smidley. I've always said that whenever we're caught talking about something off the air, I always feel like I should reveal it. So we were talking about Tim Miller, the guy who runs the podcast at Bowork. And he used to be the spokesperson for the Jeb Bush campaign. He called himself a Republican, right? Yes. And now here he is, the face of this whole crazy left wing TDS syndrome. And you would refer to it as his evolution. I would call it a devolution. But I do understand. Devolution. Evolution is one word for it, too. Or let's just say he's changed effortlessly to follow the money. Good for you. That's what yeah. 7 0 5. We'll talk to Garrett Exner of Veterans on Duty 735 Maryland State Senator Justin Reedy. And then it's 8 0 5. Jonathan Fahey about Steve DiScano, testifying in Capitol Hill about his sanctuary policies in Fairfax County. That's Cassie Smidley. I'm Larry O'Connor. And this, ladies and gentlemen, the man of the hour, Cal Thomas. Good morning, Cal. Hello, hello. Good morning to both of you and unhappy tax day. It's time to feed the beast again. $39 trillion in debt and counting a trillion dollars in interest every year. Get them out before they tax again. But Cal, you work on tips, right? So you don't have to worry about any taxes this year. Yeah, but the tips, unfortunately, is who's going to be in the next horse race. I don't think that's free of taxes. Cal, your reflection on the TMZ vacation of DC political reporting. TMZ now has an office here. They're offering $100,000 on any dirt on a congressman and not coincidentally, we've got Eric Swalwell in disgrace, completely gone and now facing rape allegations. Tony Gonzalez is out, although he had lost his primary. He was going, who's the next to fall? And is this a good thing in the long run of holding Congress accountable in this way? Well, it is, but shame on real journalism for not doing its job. I mean, when TMZ has to set up an office in Washington to do the job that the Washington Post, the New York Times and other journalists so called should be doing, it is a judgment, I think, on what used to be called a profession and now is just a business and fading. I might add, but I think we're going to get a lot of great stuff out of TMZ. I remember some years ago when the pornographer Larry Flint offered a million dollars to anybody who could out a family value conservative who was leading a double life. That didn't go very far, but I think TMZ will, they do a lot of great work. I mean, some of it's, you know, some of it's, well, it's TMZ after all. Yeah. Yeah, but it is, it is, it is interesting and I think it'll get a lot of attention. You know, you, you, and I completely agree with you. This is because the real journalist, you know, everyone out here is saying, yeah, we had heard these rumors about Eric Swawa. What the heck do they think their job is? You're supposed to track down those rumors, talk to some of the interns, you know, actually, you know, get some people on background. You, you know, you were covering Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, back when we had all of the stories about Christod and Ted Kennedy, et cetera, et cetera. What has changed? It, some people think it's just political bias and I think that's part of it, but is part of it because reporters ended up being part of the club and they didn't want to violate the rules of the club? Well, that's part of it and some of their, some of them are engaged in the same behavior, but the other side is that, yeah, it's, it's, it's, all the boundaries have been removed. I'm always, I always laugh when I hear the word scandal. Well, according to what we tolerate everything now, I, I remember Bishop Fulton Sheen, I've quoted him before, I just love him, back to the 1979 prayer breakfast. He said, how do you define a football field? And he answered by its boundaries and he made the case that America's boundaries, even in 1959, 59, 79, sorry, were being removed and they were being replaced by nothing at all. So we laugh at honor, as C.S. Lewis said, and are amazed to find traders in our midst. All right, Cassie, he's quoted Fulton Sheen and C.S. Lewis over to you. I need more coffee, but I did have that thought, although maybe I know your answer now, given that you just cited that, you know, what's old is new again, but it feels like this time around, there's a lot more people in dare I say, because we have more women in Congress who are saying right or left, get out of here and that there's a little less of the cover now to say nothing of he'd been covered for a long time. But do you think that, A, there are more shoes that are going to drop either about them or about other members and more resignations coming? Well, it's hard to say, but I would say that the Democrats have to invoke a cliche, circled the wagons on this, that were members who said that they had heard rumors or that he was friendly with the ladies and some of these other things and nobody followed up on anything. It's all about the power. It's all about maintaining power. Look how quickly Swalwell has been thrown under the bus. See, I've used two cliches in one appearance, how disgusting. But it's true, I mean, they removed him from Congress or he voluntarily removed himself, and of course, he's withdrawn from the governor's race in California, which I think opens up an opportunity for Republicans to win a Republican to win the governorship of California for the first time since Arnold Schwarzenegger, which would really be something. I think you're right. Hey, Cal, real fast, the developments out of Iran with the breakdown of the talks over the weekend and then President Trump's decision to authorize this blockade of Iranian ports. After 36, 48 hours, it seems like it's really having the impact that they were hoping for. We're at a new level here in this engagement. What do you think the next step is? Yeah, we are indeed. I think it's a piece I just read in the Wall Street Journal this morning. The great danger is that we're going, we might be replacing a fanatical, theocratic government with a militaristic government. Let's not forget that the military upholds the theologians in Iran. So if you get rid of the clerics, you still got to deal with the military. So I think that's a very, very dangerous balance, and the military is going to keep pursuing a nuclear weapon, regardless of whether clerics are around or not. It's a very, very difficult decision for the President and the Secretary of State to make, and I hope they make the right one, whatever it is. Amen to that. Cal Thomas, we'll see you next week. Are you going to be in town for the White House Correspondents' Dinner? Yeah, I've stopped going to those years ago. I'll be in town for it, but I'm not going to it. Well, yeah, what I mean is, will you be here for the parties surrounding the White House Correspondents? No, I don't go to the parties either because, you know, it's, oh, yeah, hi, hi, I saw your piece on TV the other day. Oh, I read yours in the newspaper. You're doing such a great job. It's basically ego fulfillment. Forget it. Thank you, Cal. It's 6.43. Music performances and be there as the future of the NFL takes center stage. The NFL draft starts April 23. Register for free entry at nfl.com slash draft access today. The most important conversations of the day is a show with an obsessive focus on what's good for America. You are going to love Vince. The Vince show. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. It's 651 and Joe Biden delivered a speech at Syracuse University. Is that one of his alma madras? I guess it is. And something very strange happened. This is why we love it when Joe Biden emerges from the from his hole and pokes his head out and reminds us who he is. He spotted a professor, I believe that may have introduced him there on the stage, professional looking African American man. And then this happened. Turn around one guy and say, Brock, what are you doing? Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. I feel like he should be standing right. I should be standing left. Hey, you guys looking for Brock? As I said, you've done good. Well, you know, I tried. So it was a tall ish, clean cut black man in a suit and all Joe Biden couldn't think of was, doesn't he look like Barack? Cassie? I miss him. Do you? I'm going to say it. I mean, I don't miss him as our president, but I miss that this was like a weekly segment, essentially. Daily. Daily. Isn't that kind of racist? Yes, I was just about to say it was corn pop there, too. I mean, can I I have I have many young friend like young men that I work with at town hall and in various other ventures that I have that are all sort of in their late 20s early 30s and they've come of age in the last five, six years in political media, what we do and they they work like they run rapid response accounts on X and tick tock and things like that and all of them yesterday all were texting me saying, Oh, man, this was the good old days. When all we had to do was just wait for him to say something and then cha-ching and it's yeah, they kind of miss him, too. I don't I'm really glad he's not in the Oval Office 652. Hi, I'm Joe Salci. I host of the stacking Benjamin's podcast. You know what? A lot of us get texts wrong. Filing your taxes is basically data entry. There's been this trend of people going, Oh, it's so cool to file my taxes in August. It's so awesome. Don't worry, I have an extension. It'll be fine. I'd like totally do it later. Stop. Do your frigging taxes now. That was a really good fashion voice. Did you like it? You do that more frequently, please? Yes, every show for now. Stacking Benjamin's. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
