US-Iran Ceasefire, KC Earnings Tax Continues and More Fallout | 4-8-26

As I wrote on my Facebook page last night, right before I went to sleep, I wrote, To those of you who knew that President Trump was not going to vaporize 90 million people tonight, Congratulations! You have passed the easiest IQ test of all time. It is 6-04. Good morning. Glad you're here on KCMO Talk Radio. And if you actually bought into that, I don't know, some people might say... A mentally retarded person. I don't know. I don't know. Just possible. But anyway, as we sit here on a Wednesday morning, and we look back on the last 24 hours, Do I love how the President approached the final hours of this negotiation to try to get to a temporary ceasefire with Iran? No, not really. Do I like the idea of having to even bring up the idea of, you know, 90 million people vanquishing? No, I don't like that idea one bit. No, I don't think that really that post helped anything yesterday. Did I think it was necessary? No. Did I ever think it was serious? Absolutely not. Never. And we talked about it when it came out at 7 o'clock yesterday. But at the same time, you had people screaming, oh my gosh, at 7 o' one central time tonight, meaning last night, Trump's going to drop a nuke on Iran, and we're officially going to be in full-blown World War III. And it was like, well, based on what? Why? Why are you assuming that that's what's on the verge of happening here? Because if you followed Trump for 10 years, 11 years now, one thing that is certain and guaranteed is that Trump likes to have a lot of bluster. He likes to say a lot of things that he typically doesn't mean. That's who he is. And it may not be your style. It may not be my style. But you know what? It doesn't really matter what my style might be and what your style might be. We can critique the moves. We can critique the approach. We can critique whether or not the war is the right thing to do. All those things fair to put on the table. And we've talked about them for the better part of five weeks now. But when it comes to yesterday and the hysteria that was taking place, that Trump was really on the verge of wiping all of Iran off the map when you have the people there in Iran who are the ones in large part that theoretically benefit the most from some type of potential new leadership. Some make what I call it regime change. Whatever you want to refer to it as, they're the ones who stand to benefit the most if this thing can come to a very good conclusion. So why he would sit there and make that supposedly legitimate threat about wiping Iran off the map? I'm like, what based on what? Two things can be true here. Unnecessary post. But also, you take it seriously but not literally. That's the MO and the game on how you cover Trump going back 11 years. You take him seriously but not literally. And yesterday was case in point on that. So there is a ceasefire that is now in place here between the United States and Iran. And for what it's worth, it seems like Israel's not in love with it. I'm sorry about that Israel, but you know what, for at least the time being, let's see how this plays out and what exactly this means in the days to come. So it came down late yesterday. U.S. and Iran agree to a two week ceasefire that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz. What happened? Oil futures immediately fell off the cliff. I mean, last night they were sitting to do. Where were they at yesterday? Stocks went up. Oil prices slid about 15% on the news late last night. So that's where things are at right now. When you look at oil prices on Monday, they were at $112 a barrel. They're down right now to $73 a barrel. If I'm seeing that right here this morning, that's unbelievable. The most recent numbers here that we saw on the stock market as well, those futures were up when I went to bed last night about 900 points. Right now the Dow futures are up 1200 points. That's 2.5%. S&P's up 2.5%. Nasdaq is up 3.5%. So you're seeing a big bounce back. Does that mean that the market's going to be, you know, back to the moon? I don't know, but obviously the market's like the news that at least for now there's a ceasefire. As the president has pulled back on his threat and the U.S. and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which obviously can get all the oil through that area and get it in large part to the rest of the world. Iran's Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Pakistan starting on Friday. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin and attacks did take place in Israel early this morning. On top of that there are reports this morning from Matt Finne of Fox News. The UAE says it's actively taking incoming drone and missile attacks from Iran today. Kuwait also saying they've been taking incoming Iraq's from Iran today. So just something to note as we get the day started, everything's not solved, everything's not perfect. There's still a ways to go. But take it all in stride. Take a step back. This is like watching a sports team when you know what the playbook is. And I'm not saying that to be rude towards Trump. It's actually the opposite. He's been negotiating the same way whether it's real estate or politics for 40-plus years. It's like yesterday I started off the show and I said that Trump's a bully. And some of you on the text line got mad. And I was like, no, Trump takes pride in being a bully. Like Trump is proud of how he is a bully when he is negotiating deals. It's part of his MO. It's not something to be offended by. I mean, he's not offended by it. There's no reason for you to be offended by it for him on his behalf. This is what he does and it's what we saw play out over the last couple of days. So, you know, now we sit here and obviously we follow what's going on in the Middle East. One hour from now, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, is going to do a live press conference from the Pentagon. So we will carry that just after 7 o'clock here on KCMO Talk Radio. And of course, we'll be getting your reaction all morning at 9-1-3-4-0-8-7-9-5-7. But it is in many ways exactly how we thought it was going to play out. I'm not going to sit here and scream victory because we don't know what the next few days are going to bring. I don't believe you can trust the Iranians as far as you can throw them. I don't. They're already bombing, you know, allies and whatnot as of this morning. So clearly, they're not wiped out yet. They're severely damaged, but they're not wiped out yet. They still have leadership that very much is trying to stay as radical as it's ever been. And I'm not convinced the job is done yet. Not. But for today, based on the overreaction that was taking place on some of this stuff 24 hours ago, at the very least, you have to admit things are trending in the right direction. And that is a good thing for everybody. It's good for the United States. It's good for our allies. It's good for Israel and it's good for Iran. Will there be bumps in the road? I expect there will be bumps in the road. Stuff's never done on a straight line. Okay, there will be setbacks. And those are going to be fair to critique just like everything else in any kind of a foreign conflict and wars. No doubt about it. All that stuff can be on the table. And you can be critical today if you want. I'm fine with that. But if you're going to be critical, you can't have it both ways. You can't act like yesterday Trump was about to end the world and then say, well, Trump's a chicken and he chickened out and taco. Trump always chickens out. You can't have it both ways. But you're seeing a lot of that. And it's so, so predictable. 9134087957. That is the text line. That is the studio line here on KCMO talk radio 957 FM. We're streaming on the KCMO talk radio app as always. And yes, the earnings tax did pass with flying colors in Kansas City. What does that mean? And what is the ask from Quinton Lucas after the vote went down yesterday? That more coming up on a busy Wednesday right here on KCMO. Some of you had some fun. I got like a bunch of listeners sending me this yesterday. A story from the Babylon B headline. Trump tells Iran this is the last warning before he sends Bruce Springsteen to perform there. Oh my God. Oh man, that's too much. You got to have your mic on there, Mark. That's always helpful to go on the air. We don't have Rosie to send over there. Yeah, no, we don't. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's right. So it's Bruce now. Bruce has turned himself into a meme. That's that's what he's done. He's done it to himself. Okay. The guy. I love the guy. One of the most legendary rock and roll stars of all time. And he's turned himself into a Trump meme because he just can't help himself. It's it's sad to see. All right. So last night, the earnings tax passed 75% of Kansas City said, keep taxing me and keep taxing the out of towners who work here at 1%. So to be clear, if you are a Kansas City, Missouri residents, you are paying the earnings tax. It doesn't matter if you live in Kansas City and work in Blue Springs or Independence or least Summit or Kansas. If you are a resident of Kansas City, you pay the earnings tax. And then if you work in Kansas City, but do not live in Kansas City, you also pay the earnings tax. So for Kansas City, they get to double dip all residents, no matter where you work, paste the earnings tax. And then those who work in the city, but do not live there will also pay the 1% earnings tax. So this past, as we expected, overwhelmingly yesterday and the mayor of Kansas City has a message for the Missouri legislature on what he wants to see happen now that the earnings tax has passed once again yesterday. And it'll be back on the ballot in 2031. Here was Quinton Lucas. I have just one little request. Because once again, it looks like we will win with a very strong number. It was 77% last time. As of right now, with 30,000 votes in, we're sitting at 75%. To my friends in the Missouri legislature, I love you. God bless you. Do not make us have to do this again. Look at 5%. No, absolutely make the city do it again in five years. Why would you not? I mean, you're winning it overwhelmingly. Why would you not want to do this again in five years? What's the big deal? City council gets the path themselves in the back, make themselves look good. I mean, yes, there's a cost to put on an election. I understand there's a cost associated with that. But, you know, there's not a ton of money being spent on getting out the yes vote. You guys are crushing it with 75%. It's a way to keep you honest. That's what it is. If you're going to have a 1% earnings tax, you know what? The voters should be allowed to keep you honest and keep you on your toes. Well, yes, it's expected to pass every time. It's been on, you know, Kansas City payroll part of the budget since 1963. It's not likely going anywhere. I would be very intrigued as to whether or not there was ever any no side actual promotion, actual, you know, grassroots effort on the no side of the earnings tax. I'd be intrigued to see how that would play out, but no one's done it, at least not yet. Now there's five years of planning for 2031. Maybe our buddy Patrick to eat can lead the way on that. He'll be on the show at 830 this morning. Maybe two in the show me guys and gals can put together some type of campaign for 2031 on the no side of the earnings tax. I'm just thinking ahead here, but either way, the Missouri legislature, by the way, they will not give in. Trust me, they're not going to get to work today and be like, Hey, Mayor Lucas asked us to do this thing. You think we can do that today? Yeah, they're not going to do that. In fact, they may have heard the mayor last night and been like, you know what, let's do it every three years. Screw it. Let's go ahead. We're going to do it every other year, something like that. That's that's what they may end up doing. They're more likely to do that than acquiesce the mayor right now with his request to make the earnings tax something that has to be renewed maybe every 10 years or something along those lines. That being the case, what I'm also glad to see and hear is from people who are like, you know what? I voted for this thing because even though I know it's bad policy, it's in my best interest. And that's why it's always guaranteed to pass all but certain to pass because there are a lot of people in this town who know it's bad economic policy, but they are happy to take 1% from those folks living outside of the city limits in Clay and Jackson and Cass County and across the state line. They'll they'll gladly take your 1% and they'll do it the what they want. 9134087957. Let's go to Waldo. That's where Libby is this morning. Libby, good morning. What's going on? Oh God, Pete. Okay. I'm going to describe what happened yesterday when we went to my voting area, which is 79th and homes. I've been doing that for 20 years. The moment we got out of the car, and I mean it was within no three seconds, closed the car door, started to walk up to our voting area, and two people immediately were right there. And each of them had this brochure about voting yes on this bill or this tax. Well, I, my partner's a nice guy. So he accepted it because he doesn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. I, as a blind person, didn't realize what had happened. And I wish I had said, no, I don't want your brochure. Well, I didn't know what happened. But anyway, I walked in to the, and before I walked into the door, I said, I'm not voting yes on this at all. And so I went in and I did my vote, came back out, and I said, wait a minute, I thought I heard Pete say something. And you correct me if I'm wrong, Pete. One, you're right. There are no, no committee people out there giving brochures. Two, did you not say that, that there's a statistic that about $4,200 is spent on every resident in this city? Yes, yes, yes, that was from one of the TV stations in town had that on their report the other night. Yeah, it's about $44,400 per resident. How is that once a year or is that over the five year period? No, that's, that's, that's annually, that's based on the budget of whatever it is. And I have, I have a question then. Here's an approach that I think I want to take. Great. You say you spent $4,400 on me. I'd like to have a written account on where did that money go on me as a resident in the city? Well, it's a trick question. Libby, you know that. I mean, it's going to a lot of things. Please fire pensions, you know, public works, spot holes. It's going everything. But I have a yes, but yes, you're right. But how, when, when was it applied to me as a citizen, any of that money? It certainly didn't go to my property tax bill. It certainly didn't. I didn't call the fire department. I didn't use the police service. Where did that money go on me as a citizen in this, in this area? Yeah, I mean, you can ask the question Libby, but you know, as well as I do that, you know, they'll say, Hey, we're, we're a community. We're a city. It costs a lot to run this place. And, you know, if you want to live in a half decent city, this is what it's going to cost you. If that's the case, if that's the case, then I want them to put Braille back up on all these signals. I want Braille correctly written in all the public bathrooms by law. I mean, I want to see things that actually impact me as a citizen. Hey, you know what? I'm all in considering that they will set up bathrooms for seven different people in the city who might need their own facility. If you want Braille back around Kansas City, Libby, I'll push for Braille. Okay. Okay. Now here's something else I'm going to ask. I would like to be on a committee and say, let's start putting no people out there in the community at these times that we're doing. I want to join a committee like that. I really do. As long as they're 25 feet, thank you Libby, as long as they're 25 feet away from the building's entrance, according to Missouri statute, they are allowed to electioneer. So I know that you're blind, so you're probably the wrong person to ask, but as long as they were outside of 25 feet away from the voting location yesterday, it's technically okay. That seems pretty close. It is very close. I mean, 26 feet away from the entrance is nothing. Nothing. It's not even a first down on a football field. I encountered that a lot of the times when I go, there's a variety of issues. And so as I walk up to the church, we go into there are people on the sidewalk. So there's plenty far enough away from the actual polling unit, but they're outside in the unit. They are. They are. Yeah. So, you know, now I want to hear from you on this at 913-408-7957. I get what Libby's saying. I understand. You can't really run a government like that saying, hey, what's in it for me? What am I getting out of it? But her broader point on wasteful spending and overspending $2.6 billion is the budget this year. A lot of that coming from the earnings tax. Absolutely fair to critique. 913-408-7957. So there you go. Is that in your tallest midget column? Yeah, I would say so. I would say that that fits that analogy in description. It does. Meantime, you know, very few things are done on a super bipartisan basis. This was yesterday in Missouri. It got national attention. CNN reporting here. Missouri governor signs bill banning judges from delaying divorces when a spouse is pregnant. It passed unanimously in the Missouri House and the Senate. And yesterday, Governor Keeho signed this bill into law banning state judges from delaying divorce proceedings because a spouse is pregnant. No brainer, long overdue, unbelievable that a law like this was ever in place. But you know what? You fix something when it's bad dumb law. And that's what this was. The bill was sponsored by Cecily Williams, a Republican, and she told KOMU-TV that the original measure aimed to simplify matters like child support and custody agreements, but also put spouses in dangerous situations if they were in abusive relationships. The bill states that pregnancy status shall not prevent the court from entering a judgment of dissolution of the marriage or legal separation. Williams, who has publicly shared how she tried to finalize her divorce from an abusive spouse while pregnant about two decades ago, said at the signing ceremony that changing the state measure was a priority for her since the day she decided to run for office. So good job by both sides of this aisle, Republicans and Democrats coming together on this, getting this done, signed by Governor Keeho yesterday, as Missouri was among a handful of states, including Texas, where divorce proceedings are frequently paused by judges during a spouse's pregnancy. What's the argument against this again? I don't want a baby born in a courtroom. Yeah, I mean, what are we doing here? Now, there's no doubt I've heard from a lot of guys privately, not many call into the show on this topic, but privately, who feel like the divorce proceedings have oftentimes railroaded men and have been anti-men for far too long. I don't have, and God willing, never will have any firsthand experience on any of this. That being the case, I'm sympathetic to that. However, if you have abuse allegations involved in a divorce proceeding and somebody, obviously the woman is pregnant in that relationship, sorry, dudes can't get pregnant, I know some of you are still- Talk about a bombshell! Trying to grasp that concept, alright? But if that's the case, you gotta give these women a way out. You just have to give them a quick, fast, easy way out, and you can't have judges holding up divorce proceedings because the woman's pregnant, John, you can't do it. Well, I'm curious about how long it might be, for instance, this might factor into potential child support. Wait a minute, is that my kid? So, I could see pausing it long enough to determine something like that, that seems common sense. It does, yeah, that's fine. But on court, I guess if you pause stuff, sometimes it gets shoved 60 days down the road for the next reschedule, so that is problematic right there. Exactly, exactly right. And I mean, 60 days or 30 days even, when you're talking about a pregnant woman who's in an abusive relationship, that is a lifetime. And then you're putting that baby at risk as well. So, thankfully, this was signed by Governor Kehoe yesterday, and we'll give him a round of applause for that. In the meantime, we've got Pete Hegseth, who is going to be giving an address and a speech from the Pentagon coming up in 25 minutes. We'll carry that live right here on KCMO Talk Radio 957 FM, streaming as always on the KCMO Talk Radio app. The earnings tax passed yesterday in Kansas City overwhelmingly, as we noted earlier as well. So, a lot to get into this morning. Beto Lopez wins the Lee's Summit Mayors' Race over Cinda Raider. 64 to or 54 to 46 was the final tally there. And that, like so many others around the Kansas City Metro, that election was not about Republican Democrat. That election was about outsider versus insider and the apartment issue. Cinda Raider ran a campaign about Lee's Summit not becoming Overland Park Light. And Overland Park Light won out. That's what happened yesterday in Lee's Summit. We had Beto Lopez on the show. Seems like a fine guy, been on the council. Cinda Raider seems like a fine person, been on the council. But they had different views when it comes to the apartment issue specifically in Lee's Summit. And as has happened in many other races over the last few years around Cinda City, the pro apartment crowd continues to win. They have better funding. They have better connections at City Hall. And it's just an uphill battle. The closest a local municipality came to fighting back on the apartments was Mike Zinigie. When he ran for Overland Park Mayor, that would have been in 2021. And I mean, he came within a whisker of winning that race against Kurt Skug. So it was very close. It came down to the very end. The developers were all in on Kurt Skug's side of the aisle. And he ended up beating Mike Zinigie. That's the closest I've seen in local Canda City area politics to an anti-apartment politician nearly winning a race. You had folks on the City Council in Shawnee who were very much against apartments. Tony Gillette and some other folks were doing a really good job fighting the over development of apartments over the last few years. And they all got wiped out in the last election in Shawnee last year. So they're all gone. So there's really nobody that I can think of prominently in the Canda City area. I don't mean Canda City as a city. I mean the region. I mean the metro. I can't think of an anti-apartment politician who's really standing up for the makeup of the community as it currently exists. I don't know where that person is. I mean, if you know who that person is, just drop me a text at 913-408-7957. Like a prominent area mayor, a prominent city council that is doing a good job fighting this stuff. But yesterday that's really what was on the ballot in Lee's Summit. I've seen some national people actually talk about Lee's Summit and be like, wow, this is a Republican suburban stronghold. And it just went for the Democrat in Beto Lopez. Well, no, it's not really that simple. Those issues in Lee's Summit were not really about Democrat versus Republican issues. It's just that's not how it was being even pitched in Lee's Summit. It was about the apartment issue. That's what it was about. And the pro-apartment side ended up winning out. And it was always going to be an uphill battle, I believe, for Cinderator there in Lee's Summit. Beto Lopez was the heavy favorite in that race. And he ended up getting the win. So there will be a new administration there in Lee's Summit. And if you wanted the apartments to slow down, listen, Beto came on the show, seemed like a reasonable enough guy, and insisted like others have said around the metro, hey, we're trying to be targeted. We got a vision for this stuff. We want to make sure that things are in the right places. The problem is, oftentimes, they're not doing what they say. They're jamming these things on every open lot they can find. That's the problem. They'll talk a good game. But when they actually have to implement it, they will rezone whatever, they will subsidize anything, and they will just say, yes, Mr. Developer, do you want another? That's what they'll do. And that's what that election was largely about. It was not your traditional R versus D race. And Lee's Summit decided the status quo is the way to go. And that's what they'll get going forward. You know, I am just the Michael Jackson thriller meme sitting there with my bag of popcorn and just shoving it into my mouth as I watch Mayor Lucas and the Kansas City star go to war with each other over perceived media bias. And I'm like, I'll sit this one out. I'll have a lot of fun from the sidelines on this one. I don't need to get in the middle here because I've been in it with the Kansas City star. I've been in it with Mayor Lucas. And now I'm watching these two sides bang on each other and not stop the last 24 hours. This is great. Yeah, there you go. A little joy with that. I've been curious through. Oh, my goodness. So if you didn't see it, the Kansas City star published a piece yesterday saying that the mayor's office in Kansas City audited the Kansas City star's coverage for bias. And the mayor is denying requesting this audit. The star writes here Mayor Lucas's administration conducted an audit of the star's coverage for perceived bias against city government in 2024. According to a former staffer who performed the review and a tranche of internal emails. But Lucas and a pair of statements to the star vehemently denied ordering the audit. Based on Lucas's recollection, the review was quote, voluntarily suggested and provided to us. He said here this is written by case in Bayless of the Kansas City star. The extraordinary review of a media outlets coverage revealed in emails obtained by the star is unheard of in Kansas City politics. It sparked concern from First Amendment advocates who question the city's use of government resources to audit an independent media organization. The first mention of the review called Kansas City star bias report came in a November 13th 2024 email from a former assistant city manager. So the city government, which by the way just got a 1% earnings tax renewed yesterday because they insist they need your money to keep operations moving full steam ahead. Has the time and the resources to do an audit on a newspaper in Kansas City for perceived bias against city hall. What a joke. Now after that piece was written yesterday, the star then had its opinion columnist going after Mayor Lucas. You wonder if this had anything to do with his decision to not run for Congress. Now listen, the news cycle is moving so quickly. This thing might be forgotten about in a couple of weeks. But if this had come out days after he announces he's going to run for Congress, I mean just close up shop, call it a day. You're done. He was not going to win anyway this year in that district against Mark Allford. But that would have been, I mean a total embarrassment one week after you filed a run for office to then this have this story come out against you in the Kansas City Star. But the star opinion columnist David Hudnall wrote here, headline, extra extra Mayor Lucas wants nicer coverage from the Kansas City Star. That's a good headline. That's a good headline. He says here, the mayor is a lawyer. We're reminded of that almost every time Quinton Lucas opens his mouth. Oh boy, this is getting, this is getting good. This is, I'm just sitting back and popping the popcorn baby. Let's go. Ideas that could be communicated in simple declarative sentences are instead transmitted through a looping kind of legalese. Sometimes it makes him sound smart. Sometimes it doesn't. Oh my gosh. Lucas also has a lawyer's instincts for pressure points. The tiny ambiguities and technicalities where a definition can be narrowed or responsibility can be blurred. That instinct serves lawyers well. It's less flattering in a mayor. Wow. Mayor Lucas versus the star. Is not something that I thought I needed this week or really wanted this week, but we're getting it. This columnist goes on the note. Lucas denies that he's responsible for any of this. Instead, he describes the report as something that was voluntarily suggested and provided whatever that means and shifts the blame to a former assistant city manager. There's only one problem. The star has the emails. We can read them with our own eyes. This is not going to sink Quinton Lucas. It's not. But here's what I would compare it to. The star is supposed to be your friend. Let's be honest. The star leans left and that's me putting it politely. Okay. The opinion columnists are all on the left. They used to have a guy who was on the right and Michael Ryan and he's now joined the Herzog folks up in the Northland and does a very good job up there. So they don't have anybody coming at it from a different perspective on the editorial board. The newsroom also at the very least leans left. Now I'll goof on it, but that's their prerogative. And you know, listen, like this reporting from case and bales is very well done. I don't care if you leans left or right. It's good reporting. It's good journalism. But when you are a liberal Democrat mayor in Kansas City and you've managed to piss off and potentially investigate one of your biggest supposed potential allies. The Kansas City star. Boy, you've really screwed things up. And now that you're a lame duck going into your final year in office, the world cups coming here. You still have murders that are way too high in Kansas City. Mary Lucas will go down barring a huge decline over the next 12 months as the mayor who oversaw the deadliest tenure in Kansas City history. Those are just facts, not an opinion. Those are facts. Getting the Kansas City star on your bad side when you do want to have a political future beyond the mayor's office is not the thing that you want to be doing. And with such a political miscalculation. And all I can think of and all I can read into is that it happens with politicians all the time. When they get into that second term or that final term and they're a lame duck, they just get sometimes arrogant. They just think that they're bulletproof. You see elements of this on both sides of the aisle on local political levels on state political levels and on national political levels, all three of them. You see it all the time. It doesn't just apply to one side or the other. It's everybody. But Quinton Lucas not putting a stop to this. The minute it came up to him potentially and say, listen, the star is going to do what the star is going to do. Okay, this is not this does not behoove us in any way to do an audit on the Kansas City stars coverage of City Hall. What's the upside here? We find out they're bias against us. Who care? What can you do about it? What are you going to do? Go back to the star and be like, uh, Kansas City star, we have an internal audit of all of your stories about City Hall over the last few months. And we have come to the conclusion that you are bias against us. What are you going to do? Talk to a different newspaper in town? There's no one else to talk to. Like what was your end goal here? So you could sit around at happy hour and talk about how you're getting screwed by the Kansas City star. Who was going to cry crocodile tears for you on that one, by the way. And that's where people in government get lost. They don't have enough to do. There's too many bureaucrats. They're all looking for a reason to prove their worth. And then you get nonsense like this that screws everybody involved in the process. What was the point of any of this to feel better about yourself to sleep at night knowing that the Kansas City star doesn't like us? Wow. Instead of just saying, hey, I think that some of these reporters or opinion columnist might not be on our side. I got to get these guys and gals on our side. You can do that. The mayor is a great talker. He's likable when you, you know, are with them in a one-on-one setting. He'll win you over. He'll charm you over. He's good at that stuff. If that's what you have to do, just do it. You don't need an audit to get that done. The mayor could go schmooze anybody in this town and do a pretty darn good job of that. Why do you need some audit from the city assistant city manager on this stuff? Like this was not well thought out. And now it's something that could be hampering the mayor as he looks to a future political career elsewhere. Yeah, it's an expenditure of our money for an audit. He could have got correction to the star listeners, you know, get reached out to both of them and got it taken pretty quick. Yep, exactly. It was not going to be difficult. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth seemingly announcing the end of Operation Epic Fury this morning in a press conference at the Pentagon last hour. We carried it live here on KCMO. It's not what I expected. It's not clear to me how that works considering the ceasefire is in place to now figure out a negotiation that makes both sides happy. I don't know how that's going to work. I'm not sure what you thought me off guard. I admit this morning here is what Pete Hegseth had to say in that announcement last hour. Other presidents marked time and kicked the can down the road. President Trump made history from the strike that took out Qasem Soleimani to tearing up the disastrous Obama Iran deal to the precision campaign that obliterated Iran's nuclear sites in Operation Midnight Hammer to the decisive military victory we just achieved in Operation Epic Fury. Other presidents marked time and kicked the can down the road. President Trump made history from the strike that took out Qasem Soleimani to tearing up the disastrous Obama Iran deal to the precision campaign that obliterated Iran's nuclear sites in Operation Midnight Hammer to the decisive military victory we just achieved in Operation Epic Fury. All right, there you go. We gave it to you twice just for good charm. Good luck. The decisive victory we just achieved, he says, in Operation Epic Fury. I admit, I don't know how it's over if we are just in a two week ceasefire and Iran is bombing or sending missiles towards our allies in the last few hours. I don't understand that. I don't know how that works. It seems like a very obvious question to ask right now. I mean, I guess I could sit here and just say, boy, what a win. We got him. Everything is great. Look at the market. Woo. This is fantastic. Or, I mean, I think it's reasonable to take a step back and say, how does this work exactly? How is it over? Now, I'm not questioning the strategy from the president who I know yesterday was like, we're going to wipe Iran off the face of the earth. And people were like, oh my gosh, we're hours away from World War III and nuclear war and he's going to kill 90 million Iranians. No, he's not. Okay, that was never going to happen. It was not going to be part of the plan. And as I noted last night, it's one of the last things I posted on social media before I put my head on the pillow and called it a night and went to sleep. I put it up on my Facebook page, Pete Mundo on KCMO Talk Radio. It was a very simple post that read as follows. To those who knew Trump was not going to vaporize 90 million people tonight, congratulations. You passed the easiest IQ test of all time. And that's true. And, you know, maybe that wasn't you. I don't know somebody's mentally retarded person. I don't know who would have bought into that. I don't know. But I also know this morning, I mean, do I feel like this operation Epic Fury is just magically done now? No. Do I want it to be done? Sure. Yeah, I do. Absolutely. I'd love for it to be over. But Iran's 10 point plan, their request on removing sanctions, making sure that we're never aggressive, allowing Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz. Like they have a 10 point demand plan. And most of this, we would be insane to agree to. And by the way, if they're back in the Stone Age, how could they demand any of this? Like these are just all the questions that I have this morning. And I think it's reasonable to put these questions out there. They want compensation for war damage. They don't want any US forces like anywhere near Iran. Like we can't agree to any of this. It's no way. So if we're in a two week ceasefire, great. De-escalation, fantastic. Oil prices coming down and we're seeing that already this morning. Markets are up. Awesome. I love it. But I mean, I think if you're sitting here doing a happy dance thinking like everything's just hunky dory this morning and everything's great. I mean, war's over. Fantastic. Let's go back to normal. I don't know what that's based on. And yes, I voted for these guys and I vote for them today. If there was another election today, I'm still not going to just sit here and blindly assume. Yep. These guys absolutely ra ra full steam ahead. It's all done. Everything's back to normal. And it's not even about them. It's about the other side of the negotiating equation. And that's the people in charge in Iran, which I've seen no evidence to suggest that they're any less radical than all the guys that we've killed. So I'm more confused right now that I was two hours ago when I started the show. And frankly, more skeptical than I was two hours ago when I started the show. So this is going to be, I think, a very good day for the markets. Oil prices coming down dramatically. But like everything, when there's an overreaction on the downside, you know, I say, hey, the markets are overreacting this on the downside. Today, it looks like it's going to be an overreaction on the upside is what it's going to be. Now, all that being said, did you see what Sharice David's put up on social media yesterday? Johnson County, of course, Congresswoman Third District here in Kansas. She shared the president's truth social from yesterday morning that got everybody up in arms when he said a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. He said, I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. Like, it was a classic example. Did I like the post? No, not really. But it was just, it was classic vintage Trump. You got to take the good with maybe the not so good and you got to realize this is what this guy has done for 11 years on the political side. And it's what he's done for 40 years on the business side. A lot of bluster, a lot of noise. You don't take it literally, but you take him seriously. That's always been the approach. But Sharice David's had to jump on the bandwagon yesterday and right here, quote, I'm beyond concerned by the president's rhetoric now more than ever. Wiping out an entire civilization is not a strategy or a negotiating tactic. It's reckless, extreme escalation, and it's short alarm all of us. I mean, come on. Yeah, thank you, Sharice David's for letting us know that wiping out an entire civilization is not a good strategy. I would agree with that. But once again, that you taking the post very literally. She writes here keeping our country safe from protecting American lives takes steady discipline, leadership and sound judgment, not off the cuff comments that risk pulling us into something far more dangerous. Can I take a guess on this post? I think this post was a I generated. I would think the same. I just I'm just looking at least I'm looking at the way that it's written. I'm looking at the style. I'm looking at the use of certain words, and it just feels a I generated an AI written. That's that's what it looks like to me. I think Windows 11 has a template for filling. And when you use those m dashes, anytime you see a lot of those m dashes, that is classic AI. If you put in anything in the chat GPT or any of the other ones, and there's a bunch of those m dashes in it, that's a dead giveaway. It's AI. And she's got multiple m dashes in this post. And I'm telling you, if you are looking at emails, if you are looking at, you know, anything online, if you see an overuse of the m dash, then it's AI. Nine times out of 10. And she's got multiple m dashes in this post. So whatever do with that information what you want. But I don't know why Cherise David's felt so compelled to go down this road, as if yes, Trump was actually going to go out there and nuke 92 million people in Iran, when from day one, the goal was to give the Iranian people a chance at having a better country with much better leadership that more identifies with the West to give opportunities to women and give opportunities to other people who don't have those luxuries in places like Iran right now. They don't. And we'd like to see them have those opportunities, because it would be a win for the United States in the process as well, not having to deal with a regime that has been chanting death to America for 50 years now. You would think that Cherise David's would acknowledge that at the very least, and maybe not support it. I get it. You know, the political leanings are what they are right now. She can't come out here and support the guy on this, but you would think she wouldn't want to overreact at this moment to a post like this. But it also goes to show you she realizes that the third district is no longer a swing district. She can say whatever she wants about Trump and she'll be fine. She's not going anywhere. She's going to get reelected. I don't even think she has an opponent right now. So the breaking news is that the president of the United States has paused the Iran strikes as they negotiate a peace deal. This morning, Pete Hegseth referred to Operation Epic Fury in past tense. Coming up today at 12 o'clock, Caroline Levitt is going to do a White House press briefing, and I think it's critical we get some clarity on what exactly is going on here. Is the war over or is the war not over? It would seem to me that you'd be losing some leverage if you say Operation Epic Fury is done, because if you do that, well, then the Iranians actually get somewhat of an upper hand here in all this. If you're going around saying the war is over and you're still negotiating some type of peace deal, then what does that say? Because the Iranians could be like, hey, you're telling everyone the war is over, guys, and let's go. That's the only thing that I could think of right now that actually could give Iran some type of negotiating chip in all this, John. Trump's going to announce the big beautiful surrender later on. Oh, that's great. So I just, I can't figure out if that was Pete Hegseth accidentally maybe getting out over his skis, if that is something that was intentional, if he took that into his own hands, if someone didn't proofread the script, I don't know. But it would seem to me that you actually lose a little bit of negotiating power if you sit there and say the war is over when you're still trying to negotiate whatever this peace deal potentially is going to be. That's where just my head is at. Operation is over, I guess. It could be like DC Comics or Marvel or something. We got part two coming with a new name, right? Yeah, you're right about that. That could have been season one of Operation Epic Fury. There you go. Season two could start, you know. It could be coming this fall. As soon as next week. Or this summer, yeah. Yeah, there you go. Exactly. That could be part of what's going on here. But still, you know, people are in full meltdown mode as well over the post from yesterday. And you know who had to jump in the conversation, right? You know who had to say something about this. Come on. You know, you know who it is. We had to hear from Kamala Harris. We had to. Kamala Harris jumped in yesterday saying the president of the United States is threatening to commit war crimes and wipe out a whole civilization. M-dash. There it is again. The M-dash. AI. No one used M-dashes before AI. Now everybody is. The M-dash is the big hyphen. If you're seeing a lot of big hyphens in articles or social media posts, strong possibility, it could be AI generated. Anyway, all because he started a disastrous war of his own making and had no plan and no strategy for how to end it. This is abhorrent and the American people do not support it. Trump's recklessness is needlessly putting our brave service members in harm's way, destroying America's global standing and making life even more unaffordable for the American people. We must all stand against this and oppose funding this illegal war of choice. Boy, that is rich. That is so rich on so many levels. The VP who oversaw the highest inflation numbers in 40 years and was totally neutered, I mean, I guess not her, but her boss, totally neutered on the global stage, is now worried about America's global standing and unaffordability for the American people. I mean, spare me that. It's like we were all just in a coma from January of 21 till January of 25. That's one that she may want to sit out. I'm just saying. Now, the other thing that's come out this morning, and I want to get your thoughts on this and know how you feel about this at 913-408-7957. There are some thoughts that Iran wants to charge any type of ship from coming through the Strait of Hormuz. And the president is open to the idea if we get a cut of it. Now, this is Trump putting on his negotiating hat. This is Trump putting on the old real estate hat. But this is one right now at least where I'm like, yeah, you know, I'm not I'm not really digging that idea because here's the thing. If we allow the Iranians to charge a toll for ships in the Strait of Hormuz, then theoretically every time, especially the Europeans, but even the Americans in an indirect way fill up their cars at the pump, you'll put money into the pockets of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. And that would be a humiliating disaster for the United States. You can't have Pete Hegceth out there this morning saying these guys are in the Stone Ages and then somehow negotiating where they can make money on every single ship coming through the Strait of Hormuz. How would they have that kind of leverage right now if they're in the Stone Ages? Like that that doesn't even make sense to me from a negotiating standpoint. But where this came from now you do with this what you want. But Jonathan Carl of ABC News, who I know, listen, the guy's out on the left side of the aisle. There's no doubt about it. But he's got direct access to the president. He has talked on his social media about how when he calls Trump's cell phone, Trump picks up and talks to him. And he's like amazed. He's like, I've never had a president do this where I call them and they pick up and they just talk to me. So for all the talk about like ABC and Carl and like fake news, Trump talks to these people. That's a fact. So this morning, John Carl posted here, I just asked the president if he's okay with the Iranians charging a toll for all ships that go through the Strait of Hormuz. And he told me there may be a joint U.S. Iran venture to charge tolls. Trump said, quote, we're thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It's a way of securing it also securing it from lots of other people. It's a beautiful thing. That is the quote from Jonathan Carl. Now, is this Trump kind of, you know, moving the chess pieces around the board and doing some 3D chess? Maybe. If you're asking me what I think of that idea, though, that's a bad idea. Get some Somali pirates cruising around there to collect, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You right there. Stop that. Stop that. That's a good point. That's a very good point. So this is, it's all a moving target right now. I don't know what the news cycle is going to be in six hours. Heck, I don't know what's going to be in six minutes at this point. Okay. I mean, I might come back from break and there's there's new news coming out on this stuff. I don't know. But oil's down 18% this morning down to $92 a barrel. And the markets are up big time this morning as well on what has been a busy last 12 hours of news. 913-408-7957. Stu is on KCMO at a Rosedale. What's up, Stu? Hey, Mando. All these, you know, the business of charging ships to go through the straits and that's all the finer points. But the essence of Trump's negotiation is a done deal. And it's because of the basic principle behind the Trump's method of negotiation. It's like negotiating with the Godfather. You know, Trump makes his demands and the person he's negotiating with says, Well, that's, you know, you're asking for all of this stuff. What are you going to do for us? And Trump says, what I'm going to do for you is I might let you live. And everything after that is just working out the details. Yeah. I mean, here's the thing. The question to, for me, Stu is, it's fine to let him live if you want to let him live. But who's in who's in charge, right? Because as I understand it, and I know as you understand it, that was a big part of Israel's goal here. And as a result, our goal, which is to make sure the lunatics who have been running the place for 50 years are not like minded to the last 47 years of that regime. Well, even a lunatic, you have to presume that even a lunatic wants to still be alive tomorrow. Yeah. And that's what that's what Trump is telling him, you know, you make the deal and I might let you still be alive tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. I got it. I got it. It's a great way to negotiate. It's like negotiating with John Gotti. Yeah. That's a good one, Stu. Thank you. It's a good point. 913-408-7957 is how you join us on KCMO Talk Radio. Bill and Osborne, go ahead, Bill. Hey, Pete. How are you? I'm doing well, Mom's friend. How are you? I'm fine. Thank you. I think this is a really bad idea. And I think, you know, if we want to get out of the Middle East, we ought to get out of the Middle East and concentrate on the Americas. And if they wanted to stay, then they should have created a government in exile and they should have started training young Iranian men to fight under the Shah to, you know, drive these IRG people out. Because we're obviously, we have no will to do that. Nor should we. If they want to do something, then take Cardiol and then put their screws on them. We've got the soldiers over there to do it. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. I mean, you're right, though. There is no appetite to do any kind of nation building. And there should not be any appetite for any kind of nation building. They need to do it. Yeah, absolutely. But they obviously have to have a country where they can even get to that place. And it's not clear right now that that's anywhere close to happening, right? There's been a couple of names of different people that have come up in the conversation as like, hey, these are the guys that we'd like to see take this thing over. But it's just not as easy as maybe it was in Venezuela or a South American country because of how different these places are and how extreme they are. And clearly they still have, they still have the wherewithal to fire off missiles, which they were doing overnight during the overnight hours to the UAE and Israel. And they have the inability to shut it off. Yes. They don't even have any control over it. Mm-hmm. Yep. Good point, Bill. I don't know. I don't know. We have bases in Kuwait and stuff like that where we could start training young men to do this. And obviously there were plenty that wanted to and they lost, you know, 37,000 people. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, Bill. Appreciate it. Victor and Parkville. What's up, Victor? All two things first to address what Bill's point was. Back in those days in 1979 when the hostages were taken, they immediately had to deal with the Soviet Union. So the world was completely different. So if we would have done anything having to do with Iran at the time, the Soviet Union would have gotten involved. And you want to talk about a global conflict. But most importantly, I wanted to call about Kamala Harris. You know, sometimes the little missy war is not a choice, but capitulation always is. And you SOBs on the Democratic Party and the New Democrat Party consistently capitulate, which is why we're in the situation we're in. And of course, I also blamed George W. Bush, but that's another subject altogether. Listen, he did not do himself any favors when it comes to his legacy in that part of the world. And the reason Trump's in the White House is because I really think that Trump's messaging in 2015, 2016 on the disaster that was the Middle East for the last 15 years at that point is reason number one and or two as to why he ended up winning the nomination and winning the White House. Absolutely. And I certainly hope that this whole epic fury being over isn't another one of those, you know, mission success thing with the aircraft carrier. Because you know the Dems are going to glam on to this. If anything happens after this, they're going to say, wait, you said it was over. You said it was over. Wait a second. No, it's not over. It's not over till the bad guys are done and everything's taken care of. Well, that's what I mean. I think they've set themselves up and that's where I wonder if Heg Seth. I got out over his skis or something. So I'm like, why would you, why would you say that this morning? Absolutely. You know, he could have just been talking about the beginning part is is done. I agree with you. I don't think it's done at all. Not until, you know, it literally by definition can't be done. I agree. And I don't agree with, with charging to get through the Gulf of our moves. They're supposed to be the free. The Cesar supposed to be free. But if it keeps them from getting a nuke and creating all this other havoc, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I'll leave that to Trump. He's the deal maker. Yeah. He's the peacemaker. Well, it goes back to the point too. Like, all right, if we're going to make sure that they're not rebuilding their nuclear arsenal, who's checking that? Right? Who's in charge of checking all that, Victor? Well, I would say us. And if we see any warm spots going in that area, drop a Daisy cutter. Yeah. Yeah. Get the B2 boys out of Whiteman. There you go. All right. Got it covered. Yep. Thanks, brother. Appreciate it. You too, my man. 913-408-7957. Action. Next roll with Vernon Davis. I'm your host, Vernon Davis. Okay, y'all. Thank you. Thank you. That's my... Today we have Dietrich Wise through my example on the field, off the field during game day in practice. That was one way that I led because then it led to success. Next roll isn't about what's next. It's about why they do it. My man, Bobby Bones. Like, I've had a lot of stuff happen, bad and good. And so I don't have any fear of mixing it up. That's powerful, man. Next roll with Vernon Davis. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Go to Nowhere's Crazy and we pulled off a crazy prank. Pranks, parties and viral culture at its wildest. Just seeing like the guys that you brought in and like seeing their different personalities and stuff. It's been entertaining, dude. This could be the greatest content buildup of all time, bro. The Full Send podcast. Dude, let's get ready to rumble. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Let's do it. 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