International Perspectives on American Culture

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I'm not a chanter, but I love. I love the enthusiasm. In the past for fourourth of July, we've had special episodes that included statements from some of our regular reporters and guests on the show about what America means to them, But this year, we want to do something a little different. So this time, Georgia, Cabot and I are going to sit down to discuss three stories that we've reported on or' engaged with personally that we believe embody key aspects of what makes this country so special. I'm Dailyy Weire, exxecutive editor, John Bickley with Georgia Howe and Cabot Phillips This is a fourth of July edition of Morning Wire Imagine inviting a dozen friends to pray in your home and your city telling you to get the government's permission first That's what happened to Daniel Grant, an Orthodox Jew in the University of Heights, Ohio. When he planned a small prayer meeting at home, the city ordered him to get a permit, classified his house as a place of religious assembly, and even recruited his neighbors to spy on him and report any violations. To get the permit, Daniel would have to stop living in his own home, an impossible choice abandon his faith or give up his house. That's why Alliance Defending Freedom, and Ork Harrington, and Sutcliffe are representing Daniel at the U. S. Supreme Court ADF never bills its clients for their defense, but that's only possible because of supporters like you. Right now, your gift will be doubled by a generous matching grant, twice the impact to defend Daniel and every American's freedom, to pray at home but only while matching funds last Join eightf dot com slash wire or teext wire to eight three eight four eight to give today. With Alliance D deffending freedom, your gift defends religious freedom for all. Again, that's joinadf dot com slash wire or teext wire to eight three eight four eight All right guys, so we have all chosen three different stories that we think embody key elements of what makes America really special to us. Let's start with Cabot. We specifically actually had this idea after talking to you about something that you had just experienced the last couple of weeks Tell us about that Reagan Ranch. Yeah, I went to the home of Ronald Reagan outside Santa Barbara. I came back and I was just talking your ears off about it. So you kind of had no choice but to make an episode of this because I was gonna to talk gu Yeah The life of Ronald Reagan It's just a great reminder of the American dream. And I got the chance with our friends at YaF, Young America' Foundation to go get a private tour of his home. I was able to do my show wired in from his living room. It was one of the coolest experiences. of my entire life and What really struck me and what made me feel so proud was how humble it is. And as you're sitting outside of the house, there's this beautiful walkway that he made with stones that he loaded up in the back of his jeep and came and laid them himself And they told the story of how Gorbachev drove up this road in the eighties when he came to visit Rond Reagan at the home And the first thing he said was, What sort of country has a leader who lives in a home like this? And he was remarking to his staff, This is no palace. Where is the palace? And I thought that was a beautiful representation of who we are as a people and how we are citizen led. and we had this humble guy in Ronald Reagan and getting to go through his house, Id love to tell you him some of the stories that I heard that just made me so unbelievably proud of this country. And you were there for like two hours, basasically had free reign to do whatever you wanted in his house crazy to me. And some of the photos that you showed me It really is So they've left everything exactly as it was left when he died. I mean, that was part of the agreement with Yff, right? Yeah You go through the house and it feels like the reagans have just left for a bit and you're just poking in as they're still living there. Everything is completely the same. They still have the spice rack with half used, you know bottles of pepper and all sorts of things that just have not changed. They're still shoe boxes in the closet from cowboy boots that they both worn. And again, it was just the humility of the home and President Reagan. When he bought the house, there were two twin beds and two twin bed frames in the master bedroom And instead of buying a big bed for Nancy and him, He just pushed the two beds together, he ziip tied the bed frames and his feet would hang off the end. And so there is still this little Ottoman that he put at the end of his bed because his feet would hang off the mattress. And this is the leader of the free world. This was their primary residence during his two terms, the leader of the free world sleeping on a bed where his feet hung off the edge because he said, Ohh, we don't need to get another mattress. But the coolest thing I saw that just reallyally hammered home this embodiment of the American dream was a book on the shelf Um He had this huge bookshelf. We all know how well read he was. And there was one children's book the story they told was that he came home when he was about eleven years old. It was in the middle of the winter, there was snow everywhere. and he found his dad who was struggling with alcoholism passed out in the front And a little eleven year old Rond Reagan helps physically drag his dad into the house while he's passed out and he's very shaken up by the episode. and his mom gives him this book And the book is about a young man whose father is struggling with alcoholism who ends up basically resolving, saying I'm going to make something to myself. I'm not going to be defined by these circumstances that I'm in. There's a faith element there. Ronald Reagan reads that book as a young boy. And he finishes it and he goes and tells his mom Um I want to go get baptized. And so he went and got baptized at the church. and that By all accounts, that story really inspired him to realize I don't have to be defined by what my life is right now. can I live in a country where there's freedom and I can do something with my freedom. And to see a guy like that who grew up in these humble circumstances who had this dream and ended up becoming, again, the leader of the free world. I just think it's such a beautiful depiction of where else is that possible? Well, I like that you said humble there because He returns to humility, like he never loses his humility Part of the key for sure about why he was so successful and so loved by the American people, we still he still is one of the most popular, maybe the most popular president we've ever had. And part of it's just that. Yeah. And the patriotism was just oozing from the place There were you know American flags all throughout the property and seeing that was very cool. It's just hard to have that experience and not feel just a pride in America, reggardless of anyone's thoughts on Ronald Reagan. I myself am a fan, but regardless of anyone's thoughts, it should be inspiring to see someone come from nothing reach the pinnacle of success in an earthly standpoint, and then, as you said, remain humble and go back and still live in a little tiny seventeen hundred square foot house that he u, you know, built up in so many ways himself inccredible So Georgia, you wanted to talk about Yeah tough to follow, Kabin. No, it's a little emotional. Yeah me too. Me too The FIFA story. So we've been reporting on this. We've actually done a few segments on this because we kind of can't get enough of this So I think you're right, L this is a defining story for this year So I think a lot of us didn't even really think much about the World Cup coming to the United States because a lot of us aren't international soccer fans seeeeing the storm on social media of Europeans in particular showing their love and delight and surprise with America has really opened people's eyes. one to like, wow, soccer fandom is pretty cool. and two Yeah, we do have an amazing country. and there are so many videos just flooding the internet right now and you watch one and you're going to get like five more sent to you on your algorithm and then suddenly it's like all your're kind of doom scrolling. Yes, it's right kind of doom scrolling. peopleeople going nuts for shrinks this size and free refills and ice and ice. And I just want to read to you one tweet that went mega viral. This was a Japanese guy in Houston reallyally mind blown about the free chips that he got at a Mexican restaurant and it just shows this is just a slice of the Japanese experience in Texas. and then we'll talk about the Scottish in Boston, Histicos USA a Mexican restaurant. These are individual sentences, by the way We had not yet ordered anything and the food was already arriving Salsa unrequested free. I stopped the waiter We have not earned these They just come with the table, man They start doing dramatic reads by Georgia. like a new element of. continues, he continues. They come with the table. In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling. Here the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner This was not an appetizer. This was a declaration. We trust you. Eat I ate with the gravity the moment deserved, and then I must report this calmly, the basket emptied, and a new one appeared Did we Refill, the waiter said, It's bottomless Potomless. They have wells of salsa The supply lines of this nation are beyond anything my ancestors imagined. My friend warned me, Don't fill up on chips, dude Too l. I had accepted three baskets, honor demanded each one be finished. An unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was ruined, man. I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy. Genosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid, It can only be survived I know the rule now. I have made my pieace with the basket, one basket, two at most. am I deceiving There is no number of baskets I would refuse. This rest of this nation is in that salsa and I intend to honor all of it. Anyway, That warrants the USA channel also. Yes. Cue it don't do it. Anyway, so that tweet kind of kicked things off in a lot of ways, but it went megraviral because it's something that we never even think about It's so true. and that is just the culture of particularly specifically Mexican restaurants, but The United States in general is We're very generous people. and I've seen video after video of Europeans going crazy for not just the generous amounts they get at restaurants, but the generosity of Americans, peopleople offering to drive them places, giving them free gifts Just talking with them. That's one thing they've all remarked on.. I can't believe how friendly people are. They just want to stand there and talk to you. a stranger. Right I have in the past, I've had Europeans remark on that that Americans are always, you know chatting out of nowhere and I think to myself, yeah, I do that. I definitely do that. And we all kind of do that I kindind of don't. You do, John. I think you do. want know anyway, so is's just really lovely to see ourselves through know, outsiders' eyes and to kind of get some of that love that we don't always hear, you know, domestically about ourselves. love I love the fact that that's not written by AI. I trust.. But the trust part of it too, I've never thought about that element. Yeah. We generally trust people not to break the. Yeah, it's a high trust Society in And that's how most of this this does. I can't help but hearing all these stories To me, the message from a lot of these people is I was wrong about America. Y. That's kind of implicitly what's being said there. I wish that for all we've seen the studies, we' talked about them on the show, the number of Americans who are no longer proud of their country I wish that they could see America through the eyes of people who are visiting to see how special we are and that they would hopefully wake up and realize that people who hate our country, they too are wrong about our country. Right. And this sentiment has actually been so widespread that some of those liib magazines have felt a need to address it. We have the Atlantic putting out a story that says the headline is, The feel good story of the World Cup is too good to be true. Oh my gosh. And they cl I believe in that piece, they claim that a lot of people pandering, they're doing it for social media engagement because they can't imagine where people would be genuinely excited by our culture. Yeah. And yet the sheer volume of regular people posting these videos online, it is undeniable we are a kind and generous people. and Europeans who have been, you know brainwashed into thinking otherwise are seeing it for the first time firsthand and you know, you can't Reality wins every time over propaganda And how great would it be if the U.S actually won the Wor Cup? Oh my God, we' be so great. It's not going to happen. I don't think so. But it would be the funniest outcome of all of this if the United States win the World Cup. And I've got a chance. And I've heard a lot of people saying, you know, in a cultural sense, we've already won in so many ways. I mean, have we seen these videos pouring out about people visiting Canada? I mean, to an extent, maybe some people I like Mexico City and I guess some visitors have, but really the overwhelming sentiment is that America is on Rids and it is even better than anything they imagined Nothing like the stereotypes. And on the topic of being on Royce, let's get to John Bickley for his version. I'm not on Roy. No supplements, guys. You could fool us. Probably start eating that though Yeah. so Okaykay, so mine is I don't think you can go through a fourourth of July episode without talking about the military specifically And this is mayaybe one of our my favorite interviews we've ever been engaged with. and I think George and I agree on this Art Jacobs, a retired Army helicopter pilot He is actually the father in law of our editor and one of our producers He came on, We didn't really know what was going happen. In fact, we weren't really that prepared for the interview. Sometimes things happen in a rush and we're like, okay, we're sitting down, we're going to have this interview ended up being one of the most intense interviews we've ever done. I barely got through it There's a couple of times where both of us were having a hard time actually speaking, like physically speaking because it was so raw and real. And so he told the story of his service He served for seven years in the Army He was a metedaac pilot for most of that He served in North Korea. and then Vietnam and most of his service was in Vietnam during The most intense fighting of the entire campaign And he told the experi he gave us, first of all, an overview of why he went into it It was really touching to me and very to me, this is a very American story on so many levels Part of it was he just wanted to go in Partly because well, it seemed like the right thing to do and he says I believed what Kennedy had said that we need to fight communism. He believed in the cause. And there was also like personersonal elements, you know, and also I would there's the GI bill. you know, there there's there's built in personal incentives, which is how America works But there is an overarching ideology that drives you to do things that I don't think a lot of other people would do. So he goes on to be He is a hero. The guy's a hero he goes on to be a Mediveac helelicopter pilot and A lot of times when you're going in, you're trying to rescue your fellow, your brothers in arms In that means really horrible circumstances. Usually they're under fire Usually this is this is a you're going into a place in the battle where things have gone badly for our side. So it takes heroism just to be in this role at all. And he said I can't get over it. He's like I had the best job all of the army He said it's the best job And justust to put a finer point on it I mean, he gets wounded, not not once. he gets wounded multiple times and he tells us a story about how They get fired on. they have to pull out of the situation. covering over the tree line trying to get a guy who's stranded surrounded by enemy troops. and he's hovering over the tree line. aking fire trying to pull this guy up and he I think at one point he has to leave. has to go back crush to get into another helicopter and his The helicopter goes down at least once. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so it does. eventually goes down. Before that, he's told like you don't have to go back and he's like, no, I need to be the one that goes back. I know the terrain right into the thick of it gets shot down And he describes the experience of getting shot down, which Georgia asked about, and it's Totally harrowing. We're on the edge of our seats. but the point is he goes back into it risking his life He gets He gets pretty emotionally moved talking about it. We're both just stunned by this whole thing. But he gets shotultip multiple times And he still is very He downplays even his wounds, even though you can tell this is traumatic He eventually goes back into it again, you know, he goes he goes rehabs, comes back and he's like And he said at the end, it was so powerful to me After all this stuff, all the negativity about Vietnam, coming back amid all this criticism and Jane Carey, John Carerey calls him Jane Carey And you know, the Jane fondas comes back amid all that criticism and says, I would go and do it again even now.ow. And he actually pointed out the stat that seventy percent of those that did the men that fought in Vietnam said They'd do it again. Well. All of the negativity All the ways that battle, that war has been distorted by the media and specifically by the Democratic Party in a really cynical way None of that. he says, I dismiss all of that. I believed in what I was doing. And in the end I was there for my brothers. Yeah. And he one of the parts that he almost cried in was He felt so strongly, he knew his brothers were in danger and he had to go back and get them. Amazing to me, this is this is so many things that embody what this country is about And part of it again You know, it's a personal thing. There is also an ideology. There is an overarching thing that we all agree on which is we actually do believe in Freedom We believe in trying to maximize for people abundance, give them opportunities We believe in hard work, all those things That's a through line through all of it and to me, That guy's a hero. And you know what he would say is' probably probably say you know, I'm just One of millions.'s there's nothing special about me Yes, there is Um But it is true. There's a a lot of Americans that feel the same way as so many of all of our soldiers heroes to all of us and they ultimately do believe in something larger and it's really The thing that's driven this country and made us such a massive success. And by the way, that was our Memorial Day episode and it's titled Cheating Death in the jungles of Vietnam. Yeah, not not to not in a self promotional way, but you have if you haven't listened to it reallyally do. To me, it was very it was very transformative for both of us just to even be there in the same room One of the best things I've ever gotone to experience. And John hearing that story reminds me of the final stanza of the Star Spangled Banner, which until recently I had actually never heard or read And I want to read the final stanza, which most Americans are not familiar with, but this was written by Francis Scott Key. And you can sing it in your head to the tune of the National anthem. But it goes like this. Oh thus be it ever when free men shall stand. between their loved home and the war's desolation. Blessed with victory and peace may the heaven rescued land. Praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation thenen conquer we must because it is just. And this be our motto and God is our trust and the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave O the land of the free and the home I think we should leave it right there, Cabot, Georgia Thanks for doingin us. Happy fourth. Happy fourth fourth