Hour 2 - Hour 2 critiqued SC's legislature and judicial selection, featured Rep. Tim Burchett on the S.A.V.E. Act, and linked a local deputy shooting to the futility of negotiating with Iran.

00:00 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 00:27 For spacious skies, for amber waves of 00:37 For purple mountain majesties. 00:59 share his grace on thee. 01:12 from sea to shining sea. America is back. Yes sir. Let's go to the WRD talk line. We'll talk to Ralph in Duncan. Ralph, are you out there in traffic, man? 01:33 Ralph are you there? Oh Ralph is gone now. Sorry about that Ralph. Alright so, okay. 01:39 We have a state legislature that does a lot of stuff. 01:47 that we don't know about. They vote on a lot of things that we have no idea what, and all of these things affect us on a daily basis. And rarely are they for the common good. oh Now, I've been telling you to get in touch with your state legislators. I had a couple of people do that last week and that was fantastic. We got one bill put on hold at least, we got another one uh maybe killed. 02:17 But when you call your state legislator, especially the slimier ones, and you know the ones I'm talking about, they're obvious, they've got slime on them. When you call them, there's a little trick that they like to play on you. So if you say, this is Charlie James from Greenville, and I want you to vote no on House Bill 5071. Oh. 02:46 Well, what's wrong with House Bill 5071? That's what they'll ask you. So they'll answer your question, or they will throw a question back at you. 02:57 What you need to do is counter that with, don't you tell me what's good about it? Tell me how it actually helps reduce spending in South Carolina. Tell me how that reduces taxes. Tell me how that reduces bureaucracy. Tell me that how that reduces corruption in Columbia. So this bill, this transportation bill, by the way, Ralph is back. He's out there. Ralph, welcome. 03:26 How are you. I'm better than I do. All right, man. What's up. Well, you were mentioning about the young women, girls and their identity is just that it's too they're given the wrong people to look at. Yeah. For their identity. Wrong role models. Talking to talking to a guy today, he said, is an 11 year old mentioned. 03:54 something about, oh, I like her. said, she said, Ralph, I didn't address it. He said, well, baby, you might like her or him or whatever, but all you need to focus on right now is your school. Yeah. That's what you need to like your books. He said, I didn't even address that. Well, later on a few years later, guess what? She likes a boy now. Yeah, exactly. By not making it a big issue. Right. 04:23 And I'm going to tell you, where else can you put earrings in your face, Charlie? I think we've got all of that covered. I mean, everywhere that you can. Your your your eyes. Your cheeks, your chin. cheeks. Yeah. I mean, it'll stop once. 04:46 Yeah, might be right. Exactly. Ralph, I appreciate it, buddy. Thank you. Exactly right. Let's get back to our state legislature because they're a joke. They really are. So we've been screaming here in South Carolina for what? 20 years now. That we want our primaries closed. What have they done about it? We've had three different bills, three different bills, by the way. um 05:15 Drew McKissick, you said you were going to sue the state if they didn't do something about closing the primaries. I haven't heard anything about a lawsuit. Okay? So we've had three bills to close the primaries because we know for a fact 05:38 that the Democrats are crossing over party lines and voting in our primaries to try to get their candidates in. 05:50 And it's going on really big in the 117, down in Berkeley County. As a young girl, a 32 years old, her name is Ashley Painter. She is actively calling for Democrats to vote for a weaker candidate than Josiah Magnuson in that primary down there, or is it Jordan Pace? 06:16 No, it's Josiah Magnuson she's going up against. So she's running in the 117th, she wants Democrats to cross over vote for somebody else other than Josiah Magnuson in the primaries and then in the general election, she wants them to switch back over and vote for her in the general so that she could, you see the only way 06:42 that Democrats can win, especially here in South Carolina, is if they pull crap like this. And by the way, this young lady, Ashley Painter, hoo-wee! You want to talk about a rabid liberal. 06:56 But our state legislature has done nothing about it. They don't care. They don't care. 07:05 And I mean that literally and figuratively, like figuratively, I don't care, but they don't care. They don't care what you want. They don't care about your voting. They don't care. They don't care. I don't know how many, it's just, to Columbia. We don't care. We don't care what you say. We don't care what you want. We don't care what you call about. We don't care about any of that. 07:34 We care about what's going to benefit us. 07:39 So you've got Merle Smith, Mike Kaczkiewski, you've got Davy Hyatt, you've got all these other people. They don't care. They don't care. 07:48 They don't care. 07:52 because they know the only way they get reelected is to keep our primaries open. I got some more examples for you coming up next, especially this Department of Transportation bill. I you to listen to what that thing actually does. It's the Charlie James Show, News Talk 98.9, WORD, the Voice of the Carolinas. All right, there is... 08:16 an effort to reform how judges get picked here in South Carolina, is an effort to reform that. Well, that's going to die a death, a quiet death. 08:36 So the way things work right now, in order for you to be a judge in some of these circuits around South Carolina, you have to be approved by our state legislature. Now the weird thing is that a lot of the members of our state legislature, they're also lawyers. Yeah, they're trial lawyers. Now I just want to think, just think about how sweet this is, right? So here you are a lawyer. 09:05 Making good money, doing your law. Got a little part-time job over in the State House. 09:14 But your selling point, and I mean that literally, your biggest selling point is, I'm one of the guys that appoints judges. So if you, I don't, surprised they don't put this on their ads on television. Have you been accused of a crime? 09:34 Why don't you come to the law offices of Representative Farts in Mouth? 09:41 I voted for the judge. So when you've got a lawyer that has got to defend him, what is that lawyer's job? 09:56 to get some sort of a better plea deal for that client than the law would normally allow. So your client is accused of, he's got weapons charges, he's got breaking and entering, he's got burglary and things like that. So then you go before this judge, go, hey, hey, judge, how are you? You know what, I remember when I voted for you to get that robe. 10:24 Yeah, I was the guy that voted for you to get that robe. That was me. I did that. You wouldn't mind reducing some of these charges against my client, would you? You wouldn't mind taking away the burglary. You wouldn't mind taking away the gun charges and just let's just make this misdemeanor breaking and entering. 10:46 I mean, after all, I did you a favor, right? 10:51 Okay, we'll drop those and that's ladies and gentlemen, that is literally the way Columbia works. That's that is not that is a scenario, but it is not an exaggeration. 11:09 That's the way it works. 11:13 And if you have committed a crime, who better to go to? 11:19 Do you want to go to the local attorney that's going to defend you or do you want to go to the guy that's in the state legislature that knows the judges? Oh yes, that's the guy. No wonder. So the Senate is going to kill this. They're going to do it quietly. The House passed it in South Carolina. like, all right, we've got to do some reform here. It's not going to pass in the Senate. 11:48 I hate to break this to you, but can I just lay out for right now just a few things that we are not going to have as long as these people are in office? We're not going to have close primaries. Stop whining about it. Stop yelling about it. You're not going to get it. It ain't going to happen. You're not going to get a better judicial system here in South Carolina. Forget it. It's not going to happen. 12:17 The only way that it could happen is for everybody and I'm talking about a lot of people going to the polls on June 9th and getting rid of these clowns. 12:30 Get rid of them. 12:33 I see only way we're going to have change here in South Carolina. is as dirty, however dirty you believe it is. It's dirtier than that. 12:44 It truly is. 12:47 They are money-grubbing, power-hungry megalomaniacs in that building. 12:55 that do not care what you want. doesn't it make sense? Doesn't it make sense that 13:06 If you're a man, you use the men's room. If you're a woman, you use the women's room. You can even have single gender restrooms for all I care, just as long as you don't co-mingle. Just have a restroom. 13:27 So here we are, what is it? April 20th of 2026. Do know we still don't have a law here in South Carolina to regulate which genders can use which bathrooms or showers or changing rooms? This week legislation passed the Senate and the House while lawmakers who sponsored the bill believe this is an inclusive solution, others worry that it will target certain groups. Yeah, you know what? 13:56 That's okay with me. I don't mind certain groups being targeted. Why are we so why are we so hesitant? 14:07 to appease the trans community. Why is it, I mean, why? That I just don't get. I mean, what is it, the LGB, it's not LGBTQ anymore, what is it? MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+. Yes, that community. They're so worried about offending members of that community that they've thrown out all of their common sense. 14:36 That's pretty amazing. So again, here we are, April 20th, 2026. Now remember, we could have had this, we could have had this under Nikki Haley. Lee Bright brought this to the forefront back then. 14:55 when it was Senator the first time. And how did Nikki Haley respond? Oh, it's just not needed, not right. You know, there's a little thing in politics called being forward thinking. 15:11 You should have seen that it was going to be a problem. Let's go to Clyde. He's on the road out there this afternoon. Clyde, welcome. Hey, how you doing, Charlie? I'm good, bud. What's up, man? 15:22 if you don't 15:31 Well, in an open election, they're to declare a party and then are you going to be defended? going to be politically twisted on that? Wait a minute. Well, let me ask you something. Clyde, you like the way it's done right now? 15:55 don't know that I like it. 15:59 I can't think of a better way. I say that because, alright, so they were elected by the general population or- 16:10 manager of this great big plant that employs 1,400 people and right now one of my guys is up for some kind of hearing or family court hearing or whatever and do I let the judge know that I remind him that I put you know 16:38 Well, Nobody's saying it to me. Here's what we should have to do. Well, until you can come up with a better solution than that. you just took... have to declare what party they are. No. No. No. What we need is an independent commission. 17:00 on our judges and independent commissioners i don't i don't know medical school okay you know what client let's leave it the way it is that's a good idea let's leave it the way it is because it's working so well right now right 17:16 Yeah, if you're a defendant, it works out really good, Clyde. Good, gracious. Gracious, gracious. Yeah, it's, anyway, there you go. Frustrating, I know. We'll be right back. It's the Charlie James Show, News Talk 98.9, W-O-I-D, the voice of the Carolinas. minute ago, I told you that you're not gonna get closed primaries here in South Carolina. You're just not. You're not gonna get judicial reform. You're just not. I got some more bad news. 17:46 You're not going to get the Save America Act. I know you want it. I know you believe. 17:54 that only Americans, American citizens should be able to vote, but I hate to tell you, it's just not that important. Once you listen, this is Representative Tim Burchett. Once you listen to what he says, and he is spot on here. Hey everybody, Tim Burchett. People are asking me about what's going on with the Save America Act. Well, um the Senate, of course, is dragging their feet. The House has passed it twice. 18:25 I've got a sneaking suspicion that they'll probably attempt to pass it or pass it so late in the dad gum game that it can't get implemented. And then they can go home and say, oh, look, we passed it. And everybody will be celebrating, pat them on the back. And then it just cannot get implemented at the state and local level in time for it to have any effect in these elections. And ultimately, I think that's what you've got. 18:55 And I'm afraid in the Senate leadership, they have such a hatred of Trump and the conservative movement. want things to go back to the status quo, which is them um being called from the golf course by the Democrats when it's time to make a vote. Yep. Exactly right. Exactly right. 19:19 They want the Democrats. I'm telling you. 19:25 The Republicans in the Senate, including Lindsey Graham, want the Democrats to win in the midterms. So think of, oh, it's just too much work. It's just too much work. 19:42 I'll never forget what Paul Ryan said right after Trump had been elected the first time. Had the House, had the Senate, had the White House. 19:54 And Paul Ryan was asked, what are you going to do? And he said, well, I guess we're going to have to learn how to govern. Learn how to govern? I thought that's why you ran. But they don't. So we get this, get, and so then when that happens, when we lose in the midterms, if we lose, and I'm still holding out hope that something is going to happen, and we can turn this around. 20:19 But here's what's going to happen. Here's what the Republicans are going to say. Oh man, if we could just get the House, oh, if we could just get the House, then we would have the power. And you guys listen to this, because this has been forever. It's the same story all the time. If you just, remember the last election when everybody was up, oh, you just give us the House and we'll have the power of the person, we'll be able to stop the Democrats. 20:48 They didn't stop anything under Joe Biden. And we had the House. Well, you know, can't do anything without the Senate. Can't do nothing without the Senate, so we got to have the Senate. So we'll give them the Senate. Now we have the House and the Senate. Well, yeah, I know, but we got rules we got to follow in the Senate. I know you guys voted, but I just can't violate the rules besides. 21:15 We don't have the White House, we've got to the House, the Senate, and then nothing gets done. That's what we've got right now. We've got the House, we've got the Senate, and we've got the White House. 21:26 We could get anything done we wanted. 21:32 there's a roadblock and that roadblock is John Thune. 21:39 Want you to listen to Representative Ana Pluna-Lona talking with Katherine Harridge. Let's take that a step further. mean, Republicans control the House and the Senate. Why can't they get the Save America Act, which requires evidence that you're an American and ID to vote? Jonathan is a problem. I do not like what he's done because he has every ability. And really, it's him that's blocking voter ID. 22:04 He has every ability to embrace the standing filibuster or remove the filibuster. Democrats are going to do it anyways. And by the way, the current form of the filibuster is a perversion of what it initially was. But there's this position in the Senate that people are, they need to protect the institution. I get protecting the institution, but like, let's also talk about what the institution's become. Is John Thune weak? I think John Thune is doing the wrong thing. 22:30 I don't know if I would necessarily say weak because he's clearly stubborn. He's not doing voter ID, but he can't honestly blame the Democrats for this because he's the one in control. And so what I would say and what I've continued to say is it's John Thune blocking voter ID. I'm trying right now, we have FISA up for a vote this week. I'm trying to do everything I can to get voter ID onto FISA. That would be great because do they really want that FISA? The Democrats want that FISA bill passed. 23:01 So we just found out, it's just about an hour ago, that Senate Majority Leader John Thune has refused to commit to getting back to the Save America Act after the budget and the FISA are handled later this week. He's just not going to do it. 23:19 He listen to what John Thune said about the Save America Act. Listen to what he said. If we don't have other pressing stuff in front of us that has to get done, then we'll see about getting that going. 23:38 quote unquote from John Thune. If we don't have better things to do, then I'll think about 23:50 is what we need to do. We need to get rid of John Thune. We need to nuke the filibuster. We need to pass the Save America Act. And then, and only then, will we have a shot at winning the midterms. 24:08 But Thune's got to go. We'll be right back. It's the Charlie James Show, News Talk 98.9, WRD, The Voice of the Carolinas. All y'all give me an update on what's happening on 85. I'm hearing some massive tie ups down there. You guys let me know. You know what I was just thinking about. We started, we talked a little bit earlier in the program about how Trump is handling, I can't read. can't, no, no, no, no, no, I'm good. So Stacy Bartrow is going to send me. 24:38 Okay, is that what we're hearing? The deputy was shot over on 85? All right, we're going to get some details on that coming up in just a few minutes. um Stacy, are you where you can jump on your microphone real quick? Is she in there? Let's see if we can get Stacy Bartrow on just to get a quick update here because that's a very serious situation. Okay. Okay. 25:03 is responding to my marker 11 off of 85 after a deputy was shot. The coroner has also been called to the scene. There is one person that's deceased. Although I'm reading that the deputy is okay. They're being transported to the hospital. I'm trying to get as many details as I can. But that's what I know so far. you very much. We appreciate that. Thank you very, much. So my marker 11. 25:30 Apparently, there was an officer involved shooting, a deputy was shot, another person uh is reported to be deceased. The coroner is on uh the way to the scene. So that is what is going on now uh over on 85 Neary Anderson. IWRD Talkline 800-9050-989. That's also the Common Center retirement planning text line. We're talking about, and y'all say prayers for that officer, please. I mean, that's never a good day. um 26:02 The way that Joe Biden and Barack Obama handled Iran with so-called diplomacy, because they believe, and here's where they get it wrong. Here's where the folks on the left get it wrong. They think, and we're just talking about Iran right now, but they think if you reason, 26:29 If you reason with these Iranians, or you give them enough money, i.e. $1.7 billion from not only Joe Biden but Barack Obama, if you reason with them, then they will come to their senses. 26:48 That is a huge mistake. And that is shown to be a huge mistake. Even 60 Minutes is now announcing, you know, is now saying that, hey, yeah, they got nuclear weapons, they've got enough for a nuclear weapon. So Trump is doing something about it, whereas Biden and Obama, they tried to reason with them. Ultimately, they tried to bribe 27:18 We gave you all this money, you guys don't blow anything up. Come on, man! What's wrong with that? 27:25 It's the same thing John Thune is, well, a little bit, same thing that John Thune is doing with the Democrats. 27:34 They need to understand you cannot reason with those people. 27:40 We've still got a government shutdown going on. And you know what? I'm going to shock you. That's okay with John Thune. John Thune is completely all right with it. 27:54 It doesn't matter to him. It's not hurting him. It's not affecting him. In fact, it's helping him. 28:03 It's helping. 28:07 John Thune will not give you the Save America Act because why? Same reason that we told you that that guy over at the the New York Times, Tom Friedman, oh my gosh this is just they're running side by side. These two timelines are running side by side. 28:29 Tom Friedman at the New York Times does not like the Iranian regime, but he doesn't want Donald Trump to be successful. 28:42 because that will make Donald Trump look good. Same timeline. John Thune says we should do something to protect our elections, but because he hates Donald Trump as much as Tom Friedman, he doesn't want the Save America Act to make Donald Trump look good. And he doesn't want the Save America Act because that might actually help. 29:10 get more conservative people into the Senate and the House. 29:17 Do see how these things travel in the same circles? You see how they're just running side by side, right with each other? 29:29 Thune's got to go. Thune is literally a traitor. And I'm not using that word lightly. He is a traitor to the American people. The vast majority of American people, they want voter ID. They want you to be able to prove that you're an American citizen before you vote. And we're not talking about just Republicans, white Republicans. They want it. The black population wants it. 29:58 The Hispanic population wants it, and the Democrats want it. 30:03 On average, 85 % of Americans want this and John Thune is just not going to give it to you. We'll be right back. It's the Charlie James Show, News Talk, 98.9, WORD, The Voice of the Carolinas.