Fighting for the Future of America

This is an IiHart podcast Guaranteed human. When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there's no room for slowdowns. With Granger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts, and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place, so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done Call one eight hundred Ganger, click ranger dot com or just stop by. Ganger for the ones who get it done On Nutorld podcast, we're celebrating America's two hundred fiftieth birthday And I ask my guest how they're spending their fourourth of July. I will be working. I'll be in Washington because it's a big, big day. Jared Isag? I plan to be flying an F five fighter jet painted in Freedom two hundred fifty colors along with four other fighter jets flying over the nation's capital. Listen to Newsworld when the IHart R radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast Why should you listen to Armstrong and Ketdty on demand We're not boring, A lot of news is boring and tedious and depressing. and makes you angry. You don't want to live your life like that. Hey I'm Jack Armrong. He's Joe Getty. We're Arstrong and gettingetting. We try to bring you the truth and help you figure out this crazy modern world. How about something about a comedic tone. Listen to Arstrong Yuetti on demand on the iHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome. it is Vertdic with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. It's so nice to have you with us on the radio wherever you are around the country as we get to celebrate the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this country, Senator. What a fun show to get to do together Well, let me just start by saying happappy birthday. Happy birthday to America This weekend, we are celebrating the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the United States of America I believe the greatest country in the history of the world And you look back to july fourth, seventeen seventy six when the signers of the Declaration of Independence gathered in Philadelphia And they signed that declaration When they signed it They were pledging their lives their fortunes and their sacred honors and What is extraordinary is that virtually all of them gave their lives. gave their fortunes, but not a single one of them abandoned their sacred honor fififty six men. putut their signatures on that piece of paper and understand When they did so They were committing treason They were at the time British citizens. They were subject to the British crown and by declaring independence They were declaring war on the mightiest military on the face of the planet John Hancock, of course signed it. with a signature large enough that King George could read it without a spectacles off. And if you look at that declaration, it was the beginning, it was the birth of this nation. We're going to talk today about what is unique, what is extraordinary, What makes the United States of America different Different from France, different from England, different from Germany, different from Japan, different from China, different from Russia, differentiff from every country on the face of the earth two hundred and fifty years of our extraordinary nation We're celebrating it right now Yeah, it really is incredible. And just to be excited about what's happening right now in this country and be proud of it is another part of the conversation we're going to have today. I also want to talk to you about as America celebrates its two hundred fiftiet anniversary, this milestone is also a time for all of us to reflect on the enduring relationship between the US and Israel Our greatest ally, and president John F. Kennedy once said, Israel was not created in order to disappear. Israel will endure and flourish Those words capture the spirit of a young democracy determined to survive Two nations thousandousands of miles apart, yet united by shared values of democracy, faith Freedom and resilience As America celebrates two hundred and fifty years of independence The International Fellllowship of Christians and Jews turns to God in prayer. asking that his wisdom will guide elected officials and lead America and Israel to moral clarity and national unity. So sign up to receive a free USA Israel flag pin. When you go online to flag pin IFcJ. org. That's flag pen IFcJ dot org So Senor, I really think that just celebrating America is something that that everybody listening right now should be excited about. There's a lot of people that try to make it into this person and fight. I think it's absurd. I love this country, you love this country. And if you look at what our founding fathers going back to your point a moment ago, they were committing treason. they were risking it all and knew that if it didn't work out, they were all dead men Well, and let me say I don't care. about the people engaged in partisan bickering right now I gott to say the Democrat governors, the Democrat mayors who are like, we hate Donald Trump. So no, we're not celebrating the fourth of July I don't care. stop it. It's not about Donald Trump in two hundred and fifty years our nation, I'm A huge fan of President Trump I'm a strongest supporter in the Senate But at the end of the day, our nation's two hundred fiftieth birthday is bigger than whoever happens to be in the Oval Office right now. and we're in such a partisan, angry divided times that that you see Democrats like Damnit, I'm not celebrating the fourourth of July because I don't like Trump. and that's just Dumb I don't want to engage in those partisan bickers you know, you see obviously their festivities in DC, their fireworks. there's the big festival. and you see Democrats saying they're boycotting it I want us to pause and reflect. All right. Nber one, this is Fourth of July Ben, you and I are both dads. I hope every listener here this fourth of July You spend time with your kids. You spend time with your spouse You go out, you have a burger You have a hot dog you't forget the b You got to you got to you got to make that brisket or shoulder ribs like you if it's you're going all out fourth of July, sir, you should you know me well enough. And by the way, we have California listeners. So if you want your tofu and sprouts, you can do that too And listen, to be clear. I am married to a California vegetarian, so I make fun, but We are a big, beautiful, diverse country. so that's eat what you want But I want to encourage you spend time with your kids. If you don't spend this fourth of July Hugging your kids, loving on your kids, stopping working for a minute And what I want to encourage everyone, yes, go out and throw a frisbee with your kids. Go out and Throw a football, throw a baseball, laugh, go to the beach, do whatever. go to the lake, swim, whatever you're doing I also want to encourage you T hundred fifty is not two hundred forty nine, It's not two fifty one We're only going to have one two hundred fiftieth birthday of this country Everyone who listens to this podcast You care about America. You love America You're not a passive citizen. You're an active citizen. care about what is unique and extraordinary in this country. So I want to charge everyone listening to this a minute to talk to your kids about what's different about America What does it mean to be an American that's different from being a Frenchan or Chinaman or Venezuelan, or like, look, there countries all over the planet What is unique, haveave that conversation with your kids? And by the way, if your kids are anything like my kids, they'll resist it. They won't want to have that conversation. Have it anyway. takeake this moment to reflect And I'm going to say one of the things I've learned having two teenage daughters talkalk less Listen more Ask questions tryry to elicit from them. You know certainly for every parent of teenagers You may not love every answer they give Use this moment to have the conversation aboutb what would it mean Son, daughter If you had been born in another country, if you were not an American What are the blessings of liberty you've inherited and why does that give you a unique place in the world. That's a conversation you ought to have with your kids This weekend Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. And I tell you what, just having basic conversations about how grateful. We should be that we live in the United States of America. How many people that want to come here How many people wish they were born in America just having basic pride. And like you mentioned a moment ago, has nothing to do with politics. Like it is okay to celebrate this country and be proud of it I want my kids to have pride in being Americans. I think the World Cup is a great example of this. If you're born in another country Let me just stop and say USA, USA, USA I got to say I watch that game, I watch that game sitting there with my family U When we were up one goal, that was great. and then the red card came and that was heartbreaking and to play with just ten men to play a man down and score another goal It was awesome. I was out of a sports bar with my family. We were cheering. We were chanting. It was a great moment to come together. And by the way, that red card was utter nonsense. It was garbage, It was BS U I'm frustrated by that, but I'm inspired by the win. It's a great way to celebrate two hundred fifty Sener I want to go back to the World Cup just for a second. I'm not a big soccer guy, but in college, almost all of my roommates were actually foreign students that were on the on the tennis team with me. So they're obsessed with it. My best friend from England actually came through Houston on their family vacation and we got to watch the game together the US. game together. They were freaking out as kids because they're obsessed with soccer AK. they callu it football I love watching so many different people get together, so much excitement And people celebrating this country and our team, it's really awesome It is. Now I got to ask you're in a Memphis boy Did you grow up that there's some joocks. here you're a tennis guysy. so it's not exactly football, but but then again then again, I'm a debater. so I don't actually have room to cast shade But are you one of the guys who grew up sort of sort of Hurting your nose up to soccer and making uspersions. Oh I remember we called it tornado Ball. My parents signed me up for church soccer just because you know, everybody did it when you're I don't know,idid play soccer? Yeah, kindergarten, first grade and then that was the end of that. Then you moved on to as I say real sports after that seeee in high school, I played basketball, soccer and football How she lik soccer You know, I was I was a midfielder and it look, I wasn't terribly good, but midfielder you just had to be able to run and I could run quite a bit. And so you just kind of you were on offense, you were on defense, you got blamed for everything I will say our team att the time We did a lot of slide tackles. I was actually talking with like a buddy m going, what happened to slide tackles in soccer? Because when we were in high school partarticularly on defense, youd just slide tackle. There was a guy who was a full back on our team who would slide tackle with his cleats up and just rip the living daylights out of the shins. of the other guy. He ended up becoming a Marine. He was a tough guy Um They don't do actually Googled this week wondering what happened to sllide tackles in soccer? And they said, Well, the rest now give so many red cards for it that they don't do it very much I played it, but I'm not a big soccer fan. Um You know, there are people that are obsessive about it. I'm enjoying it because World Cup is like we're hosting it and it's a great time to be patriotic I will say my cousin Marina who loves soccer I did manage to get him a ticket to one of the games in Dallas where Messi was playing And Marino, God bless him, it was It was like I'd giving him a chance to meet Payay and George Washington and William Shakespeare and I don't know, Charles Lindberg all combined. He was so ecstatic Yeah, if you're a soccer fan, get to see Messy play in a World Cup is literally now based on age, a once in a lifetime event Yeah and I do want some props. I am like over Christmas and Thanksgiving and acclaim like excuse me, who got you to C Messing like like like do I do I get something for that Yeah, you get a really good Christmas gift.ree I agree with that one But I will say, look Soccer, there are people who adore soccer, there are people who are not into soccer. That being said the World Cup is really cool Save the country route for America. Like that's an amazing thing. It's like the Olympics And one of my favorite tweets that I saw recently online was someone said, okay, new rule every country that America beats in the World Cup for the next four years has to call it soccer I thought that was really fun. That's like my favorite. Yeah. I laugh because I put one of those out there that was like if you if America beats you in the World Cup until you beat us. You've got to call it refer to it in your country as soccer. Like it's so good. And the trash talking is great. Like I also I don't know were you in Houston the night that Mexico played and won the other night? Were you in wereere you in Houston then or you So you could actually hear the horns honking. by our house outside after the game one of people on the street tonking their horns, which was just awesome. to to see people that excited about a big victory Rooting for America is great. and So So the World Cup posting it is awesome. but but I also want to say We're at a time, you know, it used to be for decades, probably for centuries Both parties rooted for America Both parties were happy, we're proud to be Americans You know, one of the depressing things right now is you look at the stats of the percentage of Democrats that are proud to be Americans And it is incredibly low compared to the percentage of Republicans. And That's unfortunate. That didn't used to be the case. You know what? John F. Kennedy I'm convinced was proud to be an American FDR, I'm convinced proud to be an American. I mean, for most of the history of the country Both parties ' proud of our nation. and there's something right now on the hard left and listen, it is and we're going to break this down a little bit more. We're going to talk Before we break it down, we're going to talk about what's extraordinary about America because I want to take a time Often verdict is focused on current events. It's focused on news, it's focused on what's happening now I figure once every two hundred and fifty years We to stop and reflect And by the way, I don't know about you Ben, I don't intend to be doing this at the five hundredth anniversary of America. So You know, the next verdict toasts and fifty years, I doubt you and are going to be hosted We've done something profoundly wrong. If we're here at the three hundredth anniversary We've done something profoundly wrong. I intend to be an old coot. yelling at the hologram And and I don't expect to be doing this podcast fifty years from now, much less, two hundred and fifty years from now One of the virtues of doing this is Look You know my wife, Heidi well Hei listens to the podcast often And look, she and I have been married twenty five years Anyone that's been married a long time Y andan had been married. How many years My guess is she doesn't listen to the podcast all that often. Heidi doesn't necessarily listen to it all that often Look, it is hard to get your wife to listen to what you're saying and I get that And Heidi, But but here's the point I want to make Heidi listens to it because she says she learns things. Like she'll run on the treadmill and put the podcast on because she says, gosh, I get things that are useful that when I go to work, I'm talking to coworkers, I'm talking to clients And they'll ask about something and I'll be like, hey I know what to say on that because I heard it on the podcast I hope that this podcast does that for our listeners. It gives something that you can't get just by turning on Fox News, it gives you undernderstanding knowledge that you can't get anywhere else Your faith runs deep, deeper than the words on the page. and somewhere in the back of your heart, you've always known. there was a place where it would all make sense in a way nothing else ever could That place is Israel where the Bible isn't history. It's the ground beneath your feet where the Sea of Galilee still shimmers A dawn and the streets of Jerusalem still echo with the story that changed the world. Believers who go come home different, more grounded, more certain, more alive in their faith than they have ever been That's what Israel does. I am. Israel Come experience the journey your faith was made for planlning your trip today at Israel. travel That's Israel traravel When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant You keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns With Granger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts, and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place, so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call one eight hundred Ganger, click ranger. com or just stop by Ranger for the ones who get it done. This is Newth The English, forormmer Speaker of the House. proud American citizen. I'm celebrating America's two hundred and fiftieth birthday on my podcast N world een special episodes And I've got some great guests Walter Isaacs Jonathan Thurley I will be working because it's a big, big day. I'll be in Washington and have all kinds of coverage through the day of America two hundred fifty. Rachel Komos Stuffin. There's nothing like American music. We're the home of rock and roll. We're the home of rap. We're the home of pop music. Eric Mataxas. Jared Isigman. I plan to be flying an F five fighter jet painted in Freedom two hundred fifty colors along with four other fighter jets flying over the nation's capital. The story of the National anthem. President of States Donald Judy Trump, join me And let's celebrate Americatha's two hundred fifty. Listen to Newsworld on the IHart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast As America celebrates its two hundred fiftieth anniversary, this milestone is also a time to reflect on the enduring relationship between the US and Israel, our greatest ally. President John F. Kennedy once said, Israel was not created in order to disappear Israel will endure and flourish Now those words capture the spirit of a young democracy determined to survive Two nations thousands of miles apart. yet united by shared values of democracy, faith Freedom and resilience As America celebrates two hundred and fifty years of independence The International Fellllowship of Christians and Jews turns to God in prayer. asking that his wisdom will guide elected officials And lead America and Israel to moral clarity. and national unity So sign up to receive a free USA Israel flag pin When you go online to flag pin IFcJ d. org That's flag pen IFcJ dot org Why should you listen to Armstrong and Ketdty on demand We're not boring, a lot of news is boring and tedious and depressing. and makes you angry. You don't want to live your life like that. Hey I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty. We're Arstrong and gettingetdting. We try to bring you the truth and help you figure out this crazy modern world. How about something about a comedic tone.. Listen to Armrong Yuetti on demand on the iHart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts Sener, let's talk about what makes America what it is. how incredible this experiment was and and if you know, I hear a lot people say if the founding fathers saw this now, they'd be rolling over their grave I also think if they saw America what it's become after two hundred and fifty years, they'd be incredibly proud of what it's become as well I think that's absolutely right. and I think back Last year, I was in a Senate Foreign Relations commommittee hearing And there was a witness testifying President Trump had nominated to in the State Department And he had filed written testimony as every witness does And I walked into the hearing kind of midway through Tim Kaine, my colleague, Democrat senator from Virginia, was questioning. And one of the things this nominee had said is he said that our rights in America They come from God and they don't come from government. And Tim Kaine began unloading on this nominee. He said, I read this statement and your written statement And he said, that is a radical swer That that is an extreme concept That is Dangerous. It is fundamentally dangerous. And he said, that's what Theocratic regimes like Iran believe And he said, We're not like Iran. We don't believe our rights come from God. We believe our rights come from govern and he unloaded on it And I gott to admit like most hearings I come in, my staff has prepared a series of questions of comments I had for this hearing a series of questions. I don't remember what they were on, but they were on a different topic As I walked in, I saw Tim Kaine unloading on this nominee and I got ticked. And I ended up just just kind of free wheeling And I was questioning shortly thereafter. and I said, you know, just a minute ago, Senator Kane said the idea that our rights come from God not government is a dangerous idea. It is a radical idea, It's an extreme idea And I said, you know what He's right It is dangerous It is radical and it is extreme And it is also the founding principle upon which the United States of America was created And I went on to say, look Maybe you're listing to this, you're not inclined to believe me. That's okay If you're not inclined to believe me Maybe you would be inclined to believe another Virginian like Sutter Kain by the name of Thomas Jefferson. two hundred and fifty years ago penned the words in the Delaration We hold these truths to be self evident All man are created equal that they are endowed Bye there creator Notice he didn't say by government. He didn't say by the DNC. he said by God almighty. with certain unienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness That idea was transformational. If you look throughout the history of MCind for millennia the cononventional wisdom was that sovereignty emanates from the top. It emanates from God and that God designates kings Queens emmperors or rulers And that Those kings and queens rule because God hath given them authority And if there are such a thing as rights They're given ace. They're given Cumbs from the table of the ruler And by the way, anything given by grace can be taken away By wind. That for most of the history of the world has been the way the world has been ordered What America did is it inverted concept of sovereignty. It said, you know what? sovereignty does not emanate from the top It emanates from the bottom It emanates from the people. We, the people The Constitution begins with we, the people. and the idea was the people have sovereignty And they give the authority to govern to elected officials for a temporary period Nobody has an entitlement to this And that temporary period, the sovereignty comes from below The Spree Court has described what the Constitution did as splitting the atom of sovereignty taking what used to be uniform government control and number one, splitting it Horizontally, splitting it between The executive branch, the legislative branch or the judicial branch separation of powers between three branches. And number two Slitting it vertically between the federal government states and the local government All of that was designed As Jefferson also put it, Constitution was chained to bind the mischief of government. That was radical The idea that sovereignty rested with we, the people. If you look through the history of humanity, what America did here was extraordinary and unprecedented And likewise point that are right, what does come from God is not the authority of kings to rule us Instead, what comes from God is, as the Declaration put it, certain unalienable rights that God has created us. Look, you and I and everyone listening to this podcast We are created in God's image He formed us to reflect His mind, his spirit, his character And by virtue of being a human being, whether you are brilliant or stupid, whether you are strong or weak whether you're incredibly able or profoundly disabled If you are a human being those inalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, what it means to be A child of God is profound and that concept that our government is created to protect those rights is Unique powerful and worthy of celebration on this birthday Yeah, it really, it really is. and I do think You look at where this country is and how great it is. And it's also, I think, a point where as you mentioned in the first segment We've got to do a better job of being proud of this country and defending this country to this next generation because if you look at the data and the polling number There are a lot of younger people in this country that have been indoctrinated to believe that somehow America is a bad country that America is not a country to be proud of, that America is so flawed that that there has to be massive changes to move into something that looks like communism or socialism or Marxism And so I think this is like a really important birthday historically. On two fronts, Center. O, because it is two hundred and fifty years, the fact that we survive this experiment and thrive to this point is amazing. But you also have to realize how fragile it is at the same time Yes. there are people that want to destroy this so that we don't have a three hundred birthday and look like what we look like right now And let me focus like most of us know The most famous sense of the Delaration We hold these truths to be self evident I want to point out the sentence that follows that is every bit as important Right after it says life, liberty in the pursuit of happiness, the declaration says the following That to secure these rights Governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governor. Understand, it's not government that gives us those rights Instead, it says that to secure these rights. So your right to life It's not the federal goverment it's not the state government. It's not any elected official that gives that to you. It's God that gives that to you. Why do we have a government We have a government to secure these rights, to protect them. That concept is extraordinary. It is unique. It is powerful And in most of the world That's not the law. in most of the world, that's not the understanding. in most of the world The government has the power to take your rights, to take them Certainly in dictatorships whether you're talking Russia, China or North Korea or Iran in dictatorships The government has the power to throw you in the gulag, toture you, to murder you to do whatever they wish with you because the government has all power America was built on the principle that that the entire purpose of the government is to protect our rights. And I want to say something else about America Critics on the criticize our nation as being arrogant as being U Imperial And listen We are the strongest superpower on the face of the Earth We're certainly not immune from arrogance But I want to say you want to look at a unique moment in history. Look at nineteen forty five at the end of World War two America was the only country on the planet that had nuclear weapons for Millennium. Any country had the ability to destroy any other nation, they would have conquered the world. You know what America did We exercised restraint We said we're not interested in conquest. We're not interested in using an asymmetric power we had over everyone else. Instead, we are going to protect America and promote Freedom and prosperity across the globe. There is a nobility to that which every American ought to be proud of Senator, I want to spend a moment and talk about how there are two ways that we can go as a country moving forward. We can either continue to be proud of this country, continue to grow, continue to learn, by the way, from mistakes that we've made to become an even better country than we are right now Or we can take the other road. and that other road actually seems to be pretty darn clear. It is the democratic model to be ashamed of this country and to fundamentally want to destroy it from within. We are witnessing and watching candidates across the country running and winning on this platform that is obviously very, very concerning I want to get your reaction to where we are now two hundred and fifty years in. Well I want to do something that may surprise you I want to speak directly to Democrats. I recognize they're probably not a ton of Democrats. that are listeners to this podcast. I hope there's some. And actually when I talk to young people, when I talk to college kids, when I talk to high school kids, I encourage them wherever you are in the political spectrum Try to listen to both sides and pick a podcast or two on the left, a podcast or two on the right. Obviously, I suggest this one on the right is one to listen to, but assess. So And by the way, there are also a ton of reporters that listen to this podcast. It's one of the interesting and really powerful things this pod does is we drive news. So there are a ton of repors and almost all reporters are politically left So If you're left of Senator, if you're a Democrat, I want to give a message to you on our nation's two hundred fiftieth birthday Do not Let the Democrat Party be conquered colonized by socialists and communists And I say that with all sincerity. Listen, I disagree with Democrats. I disagree with Democrats on a lot of issues I spent fourteen years in the Senate battling. Now, by the way, I don't treat my Democrat colleagues with contempt. I don't treat them meanly insult them personally. We where we find common ground, we work together, where we disagree, I try to engage on substance but I treat them with respect and I want Every Democrat within the sound of my voice to listen You are facing a hostile takeover of your party the socialists who are winning primaries in New York. They're winning primaries in Colorado. They are not Democrats. They are and understand socialist is the sort of Nice, sweet Uh homogenized term for what they in fact are which is America hating communists List in communism, the economic system of communism is socialism Anyone who calls themselves a Democrat, Democratic socialist Today is in fact a communist and many of the DSA leaders