Well, for us that are, so easily entertained, the Memorial Day weekend came at a bad time because the Democratic Party was teetering towards an all out civil war and the holiday weekend messed up the momentum. And if they really want to know how to get back with the toxic males, just look at the three b's that comes comes around every time that we have a summertime or springtime, holiday, although ours didn't quite, you know, pan out the way I would have liked it. But, you know, we're looking for the three b's, beer burgers and bikinis, which goes also with the actual meaning of Memorial Day. But what about the Democratic Party and their circular firing squad? Did they disband?

Nope. That was just a pause. They just hit pause on that one. Momentary. The calm before the chaos.

Because along with the unexpected news drop of Biden's cancer announcement, Memorial Day didn't avert the civil war. It just simply delayed it. But at 5AM, Tuesday morning on the flipping dot, NBC News dropped a triple byline 40 plus paragraph bombshell. Obama world loses its shine in a changing hurting Democratic Party. Now, if you really wanted to be witty with that one, you would have gotten out there and said, Obama world loses its shine and a changing climate because, you know, he was he was the guy stopping the the the oceans from rising.

So first things first, I, you know, I think NBC News was working on this story for a very long time. They had three journalists collaborating on including Jonathan Allen, Natasha Korecki, and their senior national political reporters. They name dropped 50 or so people in the first thirty paragraphs, donors and activists and big time operatives that were all interviewed. You had a feces ton of resources that went into this. And this was paralleling the scene in Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade.

You remember when Germany declared war on the Jones boys but the Democrats have declared war on the Obama boys. And we get more Democrats are openly criticizing Obama strategists and consultants who were long treated as the high priest of their party's politics. Democrat Nash Democratic National Committee officials at an event news event last month blamed Obama's lack of investment in state parties over his two terms for setting back local organizing with the party still feeling the effects. The so called Obama coalition of voters, less politically engaged voters, younger voters, and voters of color is gone. In 2024, each of those groups shifted toward Trump in high numbers.

Going forward, it could mark a clean slate for a party whose course for nearly two decades cascaded from decisions Obama had made. It was Obama who chose Biden as his vice president, offering him the elevated purchase that set up his twenty twenty election and his aborted 2024 reelection. Obama selected Hillary Clinton as the secretary of state then anointed her for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 race against Trump. The operatives that Obama and his top aids empowered have carved out carved out leading decision making roles at the top of the Democratic party since then. But after 2024, many Democrats want to see that change.

Now, here's a pro tip for you. When you've got NBC News getting out there using a phrase like high priests of their party's politics, this is gonna be followed by a slam. When your default setting is hostility to religion, you're not using a phrase like high priest out of reverence but out of snark. And, of course, the Democrats are furious. DNC finance chair Chris Korg lashed out at ex Obama campaign manager David Plouffe in an interview with NBC News last week saying he and other Obama alums shared the blame, chiding them as the so called gurus.

He said it's time to reevaluate the use of consultants and bring in new forward looking people. The old Obama playbook no longer no longer works. No longer. So the finger pointing game continues. First, it was all Kamala Harris's fault but then her people correctly point ...

Just going through the email and everything, you know? Just going through the email. Let's do this. Let's go to the phones again. Let's go to, Joe in Rock Hill.

Yes, sir. Hey, Bill. How are you doing today? I'm okay. Thanks for holding, by the way.

Thank you. No. It's good because a great topic of why you have to escape Blue States. I escaped Long Island, New York 3 Years ago because the corruption and this is on Long Island. This isn't even the city.

It's just astounding. My taxes on a home that was 1,900 square foot and a quarter acre of property was over $13,000 a year. Now that was property taxes, school taxes and town taxes combined. But you start seeing all the grips. You got teachers making $200,000 a year, superintendents of school districts making a half a million dollars a year.

You got the county executive making $250,000 a year. His wife is in charge charge of the park parks department making $250,000 a year. He's brought up on corruption charges. The DA is brought up on corruption charges. The chief of police was brought up thinking he was the Old Beach Serial Killer at one time.

They haven't solved that case either. You you start seeing where all your money goes, and then I'm I'm driving on streets that have potholes that are taking out my rims. You call the town up. Well, that's not our problem. You know, it just and you look at the town employees.

They all have the same last name. It it's just like you can't you can't defeat these people. And trust me, I tried for years involved in my local school boards. You start finding out the people elected to school boards are teachers in other districts, so they gotta keep the grip going. Right.

Because if their contract doesn't get passed, then the one the district they're in won't get passed. It's it's such a uphill battle to try and fix these places, and and the last call is right. Until people really start going and serving real jail time, it it nothing will ever change. And the other problem is is these officials, the taxpayer always ends up paying the lawyer's fees because they were official employees of the town or or or or or the the the county, and and there's an obligation to pay these lawyers fees, which turn out to be connected law firms that make millions of dollars fighting this stuff over periods of time. It's crazy.

Yeah. I I've always I I know some people are out of New York like yourself and, some of the things they tell me about how deep and how winding it is and you're thinking, well, sooner or later just because of the law of averages, I should run into something that isn't full of grift. But you never do, do you? No. It it it just never you know, and to give you an example.

Okay? Shoreham nuclear power plant. I was about eight years old when they started building it. I was still paying on my electric bill a surcharge for a power plant that was built and dismantled. And one of the reasons we had some of the highest electric rates in the country because they decided that it it we couldn't have an evacuation plan.

They would never let it run. But every taxpayer or every investor on that project got paid out, and and and they're still paying for that power plant. The one school district that benefited for years, they at one point, it came out in in a newspaper article that they were paying for violin lessons for four students that was costing the school district $500,000 a year because of all the extra money they were getting from the power plant that never ran. Right. It's like the bridge to nowhere in California.

Gotcha. Anyway I can't take it anymore. You the best thing to do is get out while the getting is good and go enjoy life somewhere where it's actually America. Yeah. Because I I I now I had a very rare full carry permit for the state of New York, because of my connections in law enforcement and stuff.

But, I I sold my house there for max money, and if you would have told me in twenty something years what I would have sold my h ...

Just going through the email and everything, you know? Just going through the email. Let's do this. Let's go to the phones again. Let's go to, Joe in Rock Hill.

Yes, sir. Hey, Bill. How are you doing today? I'm okay. Thanks for holding, by the way.

Thank you. No. It's good because a great topic of why you have to escape blue states. I escaped Long Island, New York 3 Years ago because the corruption and this is on Long Island. This isn't even the city.

It's just astounding. My taxes on on a home that was 1,900 square foot and a quarter acre of property was over $13,000 a year. Now that was property taxes, school taxes and town taxes combined. But you start seeing all the grips. You got teachers making $200,000 a year, superintendents of school districts making a half a million dollars a year.

You got the county executive making $250,000 a year. His wife is in charge of the park parks department making $250,000 a year. He's brought up on corruption charges. The DA is brought up on corruption charges. The chief of police was brought up thinking he was the Old Beach, serial killer at one time.

They haven't solved that case either. You you start seeing where all your money goes, and then I'm I'm driving on streets that have potholes that are taking out my rims. You call the town up. Well, that's not our problem. You know, it just and you look at the town employees.

They all have the same last name. It it's just like you can't you can't defeat these people. And trust me, I tried for years involved in my local school boards. You start finding out the people elected to school boards are teachers in other districts, so they gotta keep the grip going. Right.

Because if their contract doesn't get passed, then the one the district they're in won't get passed. It's it's such a uphill battle to try and fix these places, and and the last call is right. Until people really start going and serving real jail time, it it nothing will ever change. And the other problem is is these officials, the taxpayer always ends up paying the lawyer's fees because they were official employees of the town or or or or or the the the county, and and there's an obligation to pay these lawyer's fees, which turn out to be connected law firms that make millions of dollars fighting this stuff over periods of time. It's crazy.

Yeah. I I've always I know some people are out of New York like yourself and some of the things they tell me about how deep and how winding it is and you're thinking, well, sooner or later just because of the law of averages, I should run into something that isn't full of grift. But you never do, do you? No. It it it just never you know?

And to give you an example, okay, Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant. I was about eight years old when they started building it. I was still paying on my electric bill a surcharge for a power plant that was built and dismantled. And one of the reasons we had some of the highest electric rates in the country because they decided that it it we couldn't have an evacuation plan. They would never let it run.

But every taxpayer or every investor on that project got paid out, and and and they're still paying for that power plant. The one school district that benefited for years, they at one point, it came out in in a newspaper article that they were paying for violin lessons for four students that was costing the school district $500,000 a year because of all the extra money they were getting from the power plant that never ran. Right. It's like the bridge to nowhere in California. Gotcha.

Anyway I can't take it anymore. You the the best thing to do is to get out while the getting is good and go enjoy life somewhere where it's actually America. Yeah. Because I I I now I had a very rare full carry permit for the state of New York, because of my connections in law enforcement and stuff. But, I I sold my house there for max money.

And if you would have told me in twenty something years what I would have sold my ...

I have a new screen on my screen to look at. I'm trying desperately to decipher it. I think I may just ignore it because I don't even know what I'm looking at. But, hey, I got it. I sit around on a regular basis lamenting the fact that, you know, I'm I I vote Republican.

I I lament the fact because they they do stupid stuff and I mean, it's not some of the stuff they do isn't it because it's stupid, it's because of the things they omit, the things they don't do. But then I remember the Democrat party exists and this is where this is where I get to rationalize and and, say to myself, well, at least we're better than them. I won't tell you what I think about the Libertarian party. But for all of the failures and the follies and if you want to use the word that most of us never use, the foibles of the stupid GOP, the current Democrat party is much, much worse off. They're treading water in a narcissistic swamp.

They're being abandoned by their former voting blocks on a regular basis. They're controlled by some over credentialed echo chamber psychotics. And for some reason, they find themselves absolutely beholden to a coalition of sexually confused neo Marxist weirdos, losers, and mutations. And I mean, you gotta hand it to them. Not only did they figure out how to make a party more inept than the Republicans, but they, you know, they proved me wrong too.

They proved me wrong on a daily basis, which is fine. I don't mind being wrong. The last few years, well, let's see what they did over the last few years. Let's look at their resume over the their CV, their curriculum vitae over the last few years. Well, they installed a human aid plan as their party leader.

You gotta know that when you got a guy and he's going senile and this is all building off of a solid foundation of a half a century of being an idiot, You know the senility is not gonna be better. This guy rolls in, he wrecked the economy, threw up at the borders and he managed to get a bunch of Americans killed by some some of the few remaining third world savages that he hadn't already invited into our country. And then after you and I were all forced to endure a bunch of non stop babbling over our democracy, the donkey pull up bureau pulled his card following a disastrous debate with the best thing you can say about his performance was that we could not tell that he had soiled himself if he did, which I'm not sure he would have known either. He's not like Jerrold Nadler. And then they replaced him with a towering unaccomplishment in the form of Kamala Harris.

They she was and they knew this. They knew she was so dumb that they were not gonna let her talk to the fawning media who wanted to fall at her feet until they basically had to and and then as soon as that happened, she demonstrated why they wouldn't let her speak to the media in the first place. She decided to channel her inner Harvey Corman and, not pick Josh Shapiro because he's Jewish and we can't have that in the Democratic Party. So she invited Tim Walz to prance out onto the national stage because he could attract men. I knew when she got Tim Walz, I was like, you know, I'm thinking I'm thinking about it.

But the Democrat party has become utterly feminized, haven't they? I mean, when when you look at them. These guys take their SSRI drugs with their Chardonnay that's coming out of the box that they're sucking on a straw with, and I'm just talking about the males. The female ones, well, female ones. And I always think about Rosa DeLauro.

I think that's her name. Good lord. Have mercy when you look at her. And listen. I'm not superficial, but look at her.

These are the most middle aged nagie Karens with the utterly sour face and the conviction that Gaia has instilled in them, in them alone to ensure that the manager hears about how everybody, you, me, everybody's misbehaving. And the exception is people like Jasmine Crockett. She started out as an articulate educated young lady and now she's a finge ...

I have a new screen on my screen to look at. I'm trying desperately to decipher it. I think I may just ignore it because I don't even know what I'm looking at. But, hey, I got it. I sit around on a regular basis lamenting the fact that, you know, I'm I I vote Republican.

I I lament the fact because they they do stupid stuff and I mean, it's not some of the stuff they do isn't it because it's stupid, it's because of the things they omit, the things they don't do. But then I remember the Democrat party exists and this is where this is where I get to rationalize and and, say to myself, well, at least we're better than them. I won't tell you what I think about the Libertarian party. But for all of the failures and the follies and if you want to use the word that most of us never use, the foibles of the stupid GOP, the current Democrat party is much, much worse off. They're treading water in a narcissistic swamp.

They're being abandoned by their former voting blocks on a regular basis. They're controlled by some over credentialed echo chamber psychotics. And for some reason, they find themselves absolutely beholden to a coalition of sexually confused neo Marxist weirdos, losers, and mutations. And I mean, you gotta hand it to them. Not only did they figure out how to make a party more inept than the Republicans, but they, you know, they proved me wrong too.

They proved me wrong on a daily basis, which is fine. I don't mind being wrong. The last few years, well, let's see what they did over the last few years. Let's look at their resume over the their CV, their curriculum vitae over the last few years. Well, they installed a human aid plan as their party leader.

You gotta know that when you got a guy and he's going senile and this is all building off of a solid foundation of a half a century of being an idiot, You know the senility is not gonna be better. This guy rolls in, he wrecked the economy, threw up at the borders and he managed to get a bunch of Americans killed by some some of the few remaining third world savages that he hadn't already invited into our country. And then after you and I were all forced to endure a bunch of non stop babbling over our democracy, the donkey pull up bureau pulled his card following a disastrous debate with the best thing you can say about his performance was that we could not tell that he had soiled himself if he did, which I'm not sure he would have known either. He's not like Jerrold Nadler. And then they replaced him with a towering unaccomplishment in the form of Kamala Harris.

They she was and they knew this. They knew she was so dumb that they were not gonna let her talk to the fawning media who wanted to fall at her feet until they basically had to and and then as soon as that happened, she demonstrated why they wouldn't let her speak to the media in the first place. She decided to channel her inner Harvey Corman and, not pick Josh Shapiro because he's Jewish and we can't have that in the Democratic Party. So she invited Tim Walz to prance out onto the national stage because he could attract men. I knew when she got Tim Walz, I was like, you know, I'm thinking I'm thinking about it.

But the Democrat party has become utterly feminized, haven't they? I mean, when when you look at them. These guys take their SSRI drugs with their Chardonnay that's coming out of the box that they're sucking on a straw with, and I'm just talking about the males. The female ones, well, female ones. And I always think about Rosa DeLauro.

I think that's her name. Good lord. Have mercy when you look at her. And listen. I'm not superficial, but look at her.

These are the most middle aged nagie Karens with the utterly sour face and the conviction that Gaia has instilled in them, in them alone to ensure that the manager hears about how everybody, you, me, everybody's misbehaving. And the exception is people like Jasmine Crockett. She started out as an articulate educated young lady and now she's a finge ...

As I as I'm not even gonna say young man. I was a little boy, and I I wanted to play baseball. And in Columbia, South Carolina, we didn't have a minor league team, but we did have the American Legion. And I saw a few American Legion games and that that just pushed me way over the edge. American Legion Baseball has returned to Greenville, South Carolina.

Thanks to Ingles Markets and American Legion Post three joining me to discuss what's coming up from the Greenville Warbirds is their manager, Brian Remsburg. Good afternoon, sir. Hey, Bill. Thanks so much for having me on. We're really excited to get the Warbirds back in action this summer.

Yeah. One of the things that I remember about American Legion ball, that's nearly on par with minor league players, isn't it? Yeah. It's close. You're gonna see a lot of these kids are gonna go on and play in college.

Five kids from our roster are actually committed to play next year. We've got one kid coming back that's actually a playing college today. And what it really is is a collection of, it's basically a high school all star team, the the area that you represent. But I mean, it used to be when there was no American Legion in some places. They'd be looking for a high school kid to bring into the farm, into into the minor leagues to try developing when they were 15, 16, 17 years old.

Right? No doubt about it. Yeah. You know, it's it's a rich history. It goes back to 1925.

So we're we're celebrating the hundredth year of American Legion this year and so that's why the post was so excited to bring it back. The commander, Kirk Conover, he, was very receptive. He's a huge baseball fan. Right. He's a a drive season ticket holder, and he was on board when I sent the initial note in October.

And, here we are. We're actually gonna open up tomorrow night in Greer. So very excited to bring American Legion back to Greenville. Now you're gonna be playing your home games at Furman? We are.

Yeah. Through that generous sponsorship, for our friends at Ingalls are gonna they're paying for that. They've done a great job keeping the field up. You know, they lost the program a few years ago, but they've got club baseball out there and they use it for other camps. And so we're really excited to get out there this summer.

We're gonna have home games out there, June and July. And, you know, we're we've got, teams in our league from Anderson and Easley Golden Strip in Greenwood. They're really excited to get out there and play on a really nice, college level field too. So How long is how how long is the season for the Greenville Warbirds? So basically, we're gonna start tomorrow night, and we'll wrap up by the July with the state tournament.

Somebody from the state is going to win and move on to the regional, and, the World Series played just up the road in in Shelby, North Carolina, and that'll be, mid August. So Right. We'll see. Yeah. Somebody's somebody's gonna be representing there.

And there's actually two teams out of the hundred years. Two teams from South Carolina have won, the World Series. It was Spartanburg back in 1936. And just a few years back, Chapin Newberry won it in 02/2015. Well, how are the Warbirds shaping up?

To be a new team, have they come together? Are they turning plays? Are are are they thinking with one brain? What are they doing? We're gonna see.

You know what's funny? It's such a condensed season. The South Carolina High School League, there are still a couple of teams playing for a state championship. And so we just had our tryouts last week. We've got a really good roster this first year.

Like I said, you can play up until '19. We're gonna be a little bit junior heavy. We've got a couple of seniors. Right. It's gonna be a scrappy team.

We're gonna hang in there. We'll see we'll see. But kind of building for the future, it's a it's a process. Because you you hope to keep these kids for a couple of years, right, and build towards something special. Now, you kn ...

As I as I'm not even gonna say a young man. I was a little boy, and I I wanted to play baseball. And in Columbia, South Carolina, we didn't have a minor league team, but we did have the American Legion. And I saw a few American Legion games and that that just pushed me way over the edge. American Legion Baseball has returned to Greenville, South Carolina.

Thanks to Ingles Markets and American Legion Post three. Joining me to discuss what's coming up from the Greenville Warbirds is their manager, Brian Remsburg. Good afternoon, sir. Hey, Bill. Thanks so much for having me on.

We're really excited to, get the Warbirds back in action this summer. Yeah. One of the things that I remember about American Legion ball, that's nearly on par with minor league players, isn't it? Yeah. It's close.

You're gonna see a lot of these kids are gonna go on and play in college. Five kids from our roster are actually committed to play. Next year, we've got one kid coming back that's actually a playing college today. And what it really is is a collection of, it's it's basically a high school all star team of the the area that you represent. But, I mean, it used to be when there was no American Legion in some places.

They'd be looking for a high school kid kid to bring into the farm, into into the minor leagues to try to develop them when they were 15, 16, 17 years old. Right? No doubt about it. Yeah. You know what?

It it's a rich history. It goes back to 1925. So we're we're celebrating the hundredth year of American Legion this year, and so that's why the post was so excited to bring it back. The commander, Kirk Conover, he, was very receptive. He's a huge baseball fan.

Right. He's a a drive season ticket holder, and he was on board when I sent the initial note in October. And, here we are. We're actually gonna open up tomorrow night in in Greer. So we're very excited to bring American Legion back to Greenville.

Now you're gonna be playing your home games at Furman? We are. Yeah. Through that generous sponsorship, for our friends at e Ingles are gonna they're paying for that. They've done a great job keeping the field up.

You know, they lost the program a few years ago, but they've got club baseball out there and they use it for other camps. And so we're really excited to get out there this summer. We're gonna have home games out there, June and July and, you know, we're we've got, teams in our league from Anderson and Eazy Golden Strip in Greenwood. They're really excited to get out there and play on a really nice, college level field too. So How long is how how long is the season for the Greenville Warbirds?

So basically, we're gonna start tomorrow night, and we'll wrap up by the July with the state tournament. Somebody from the state is going to win and move on to the regional, and, the World Series played just off the road in in Shelby, North Carolina, and that'll be, mid August. So Right. We'll see. Yeah.

Somebody's somebody's gonna be representing there. And there's actually two teams out of the hundred years. Two teams from South Carolina have won, the World Series. It was Spartanburg back in 1936. And just a few years back, Chapin Newberry won it in 02/2015.

Well, how are the Warbirds shaping up? To be a new team, have they come together? Are they turning plays? Are are are they thinking with one brain? What are they doing?

We're gonna see. You know what's funny? It's such a condensed season. The South Carolina High School League, there are still a couple of teams playing for a state championship. And so we just had our tryouts last week.

We've got a really good roster this first year. Like I said, you can can play up until 19. We're gonna be a little bit junior heavy. We've got a couple of seniors. Right.

It's gonna be a scrappy team. We're gonna hang in there. We'll see we'll see. But kind of building for the future, it's it's a process. Because you you hope to keep these kids for a couple of years, right, and build, to ...

All of this ideological combat, sometimes you need to take a moment to recharge. And coming to Greenville this weekend, there's something you could go to that would be you would love and you can recharge at the same time. Joining me now from the International Ballet is Sarah Shoemaker. I can never remember what you are. Don't you just run everything now?

I mean, everywhere. Well, they call me president, but who cares about titles? I really don't. I thank you so much for having me on today, Bill. I'm it's such an honor to be here.

Well, you know, for I don't what? Oh, for over a decade, I've been, you know, annually, I've been talking about The Nutcracker because you guys do such a a great rendition of the classic Nutcracker. Bring the world class dancers to Greenville, South Carolina. But this weekend, you have Don Quixote coming up with some more world class dancers. I don't know anything about Don Quixote.

What's the story supposed to be about with Don Quixote besides Okay. I know there's some windmills in there somewhere. There there is a windmill. You're asking great questions because the the the novel the original Don Quixote novel was written, if you can believe this, in the early 1600s by Miguel Cervantes and he wrote a novel that was so powerfully human that so many people resonated with the themes and the stories and the journey of this man that it's still being read today, hundreds of years later. And so that's kind of the beauty of a great work of art is that it transcends time, it transcends art forms, and it just touches people's heart and souls.

And I love what you said about, you know, in a in a time and in a country, there's so much going on that can be hard and difficult, and it's so nice when you can escape that and go see something that just reminds us that we're all, you know, humans together and and that they're and great art inspires. It doesn't matter who you are. So I we're excited to bring it. Yeah. The the thing about it is those young, you know, those young people that are out there doing the dancing, that's a lot of discipline involved in that.

A lot of pain. Right? It's like watching it's like watching precision acrobatics is what they're actually executing because not only do they do the really long leap, but then they stop on a dime and spin and catch some young lady throwing themselves at them. Yeah. And I'll say this.

I mean, I was in the studio watching rehearsal the other day, and I've been watching, you know, professional level dance my whole life. And, I mean, granted, obviously, I'm biased. I like it. It's something that makes me excited. But, I mean, I was watching this stuff going, this is absolutely incredible to be in the room with talent at that level.

It's just it's exciting. And to do it I mean, you said precision acrobatics, I would say but to live symphony orchestra on top of that, I mean, that's it's crazy. And we are crazy to be trying to pull off such a huge production, produced here in our local hometown, you know, with local artists. But we did bring in 20 professional guests. We have two superstars, a Cuban dancer named Rafael, Kennedit.

He's from the Cincinnati Ballet. I mean, Cuban trained male dancers are Like Taras Dimitro. Right? Like Taras Dimitro. Last year, we had Esteban Hernandez from San Francisco Ballet.

And these guys, there's nothing like it. They are phenomenal athletes, phenomenal artists. And then his partner, Melissa Gelfin, is, also his fiance. But she's I mean, she matches them. Like, she's right there with them.

They're incredible to watch. You also recognizing that, we're not quite sold out. Normally, we we've gotten it to the point now to where Nutcracker sells out, full house. I mean, it's gotten bigger and bigger and more and more people there each time I get to go there. But Yeah.

Not with Don Quixote. So you have a 20% off code that you're offering for people to take a look at this. There's gonna be so the two shows are Saturday and ...

All of this ideological combat, sometimes you need to take a moment to recharge. And coming to Greenville this weekend, there's something you could go to that would be you you would love and you can recharge at the same time. Joining me now from the International Ballet is Sarah Shoemaker. I can never remember what you are. Don't you just run everything now?

I mean, every week. Well, they call me president, but who cares about paddles? I really don't. I thank you so much for having me on today, Bill. I'm it's such an honor to be here.

Well, you know, for I don't what? Oh, for over a decade, I've been, you know, annually, I've been talking about The Nutcracker because you guys do such a great rendition of the classic Nutcracker. Bring the world class dancers to Greenville, South Carolina. But this weekend, you have Don Quixote coming up with some more world class dancers. I don't know anything about Don Quixote.

What's the story supposed to be about with Don Quixote besides Okay. I know there's some windmills in there somewhere. There there is a windmill. You're asking great questions because the the the novel the original Don Quixote novel was written, if you can believe this, in the early 1600s by Miguel Cervantes and he wrote a novel that was so powerfully human that so many people resonated with the themes and the stories and the journey of this man that it's still being read today, hundreds of years later. And so that's kind of the beauty of a great work of art is that it transcends time, it transcends art forms, and it just touches people's heart and souls.

And I love what you said about, you know, in a in a time and in a country, there's so much going on that can be hard and difficult, and it's so nice when you can escape that and go see something that just reminds us that we're all, you know, humans together and and that they're and great art inspires. It doesn't matter who you are. So I we're excited to bring it. Yeah. The the thing about it is those young, you know, those young people that are out there doing the dancing, that's a lot of discipline involved in that.

A lot of pain. Right? I mean, it's like watching it's like watching precision acrobatics is what they're actually executing because not only do they do the really long leap, but then they stop on a dime and spin and catch some young lady throwing themselves at them. Yeah. And I'll say this.

I mean, I was in the studio watching rehearsal the other day and I've been watching, you know, professional level dance my whole life. And, I mean, granted, obviously, I'm biased. I like it. It's something that makes me excited. But, I mean, I was watching this stuff going, this is absolutely incredible to be in the room with talent at that level.

It's just it's exciting. And to do it I mean, you said precision acrobatics, I would say but to live symphony orchestra on top of that, I mean, that's it's crazy. And we are crazy to be trying to pull off such a huge production, produced here in our local hometown, you know, with local artists. But we did bring in 20 professional guests. We have two superstars, a Cuban dancer named Rafael, Canadit.

He's from the Cincinnati Ballet. I mean, Cuban trained male dancers are Like Taras Dimitro. Right? Like Taras Dimitro. Last year, we had Esteban Hernandez from San Francisco Ballet.

And these guys, there's nothing like it. They are phenomenal athletes, phenomenal artists. And then his partner, Melissa Gelfin, is, also his fiance. But she's I mean, she matches them. Like, she's right there with them.

They're incredible to watch. You also recognizing that, we're not quite sold out. Normally, we we've gotten it to a point now to where Nutcracker sells out, full house. I mean, it's gotten bigger and bigger and more and more people there each time I get to go there. But Yeah.

Not with Don Quixote. So you have a 20% off code that you're offering for people to take a look at this. There's gonna be so the two shows are Satur ...

Well, I I I'm watching the Spartanburg sheriff's race that is shaping up to be. And I noticed that now we have another guy in there. So I decided to take a moment just to sort of introduce those of you in Spartanburg that may not know who's running to be sheriff of Spartanburg County. I I've just, you know, I've got a little bit of stuff to I can share with you about your candidates today, which that may change and we may get some more. Right now, you have Nick Duncan, Joseph Hawes, Andy Clark, and Randy Holofield.

And let's start with Nick Dukin. He was a candidate for the sheriff in the for sheriff in twenty twenty four Republican primary, and he has decided, that he's going to run again. And he, he said he told Fox Carolina, I left my career at Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office in 2023 to make a run for sheriff. It was a job that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I had ideas of changes that could be made surrounding the office and changes that would be very beneficial to communities it serves. With the resignation of sheriff Wright, I have decided I will again run for Spartanburg County Sheriff in the upcoming special election.

I hope that in the near future, we can start to implement these changes and ultimately move Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office in a direction of honesty and ensuring justice. Concerning mister Duncan, there had been multiple sources that had reached out to Fox Carolina and claimed that, Sheriff Wright had a hit list and the sources which include a lawsuit claimed that someone who had once worked in the sheriff's office was fired for supporting Nick Duncan and that, you know, after a months long investigation, SLED said the case was unfounded. Then there's Joseph Hawes. He is currently the police chief of Paclit and he told Fox Carolina News, my leadership philosophy is built on customer service, communication, consistency, and procedural justice. Customer service is a foundation of public safety leadership focusing on both internal and external aspects.

Internally, within the agency, it's essential that every rank and assignment receives the same level of respect and service we expect them to provide to our citizens. The culture of customer service, procedural justice, and respect within the department sets an example and equips officers to deliver the best service to the community they can. To achieve our internal customer service goals. It's fundamental to clearly communicate expectations to every staff member and consistently implement procedural justice at every level. For me, this is gonna be very interesting because I've been asked by the Spartanburg County GOP to moderate the debate that's coming up for this special election.

Then there's Andy Clark. He worked at the Spartan River County Sheriff's Office before retiring in January. He's decided and he said, the why he's running as a kid. We always wanted to know the why. Why can't I touch that?

Why can't I have that? Why can't I do that? As we grow up, the inquisitive remains and, often we find our answer these questions for ourselves. Why we can't have that? Because it will not fit in the garage.

It is not within the budget. It's the wrong year. Why do I wanna be sheriff of Spartanburg County? I have a passion to see Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department provide the best possible services to our county. We can accomplish this through fiscally responsible budgets that will meet the needs of the citizens while maintaining the safety and protections of the community.

I recently retired from the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office while working there in several different capacities. I saw many missed opportunities to help the officers provide better services to citizens, businesses, and visitors of Spartanburg County. I became frustrated as I saw other agencies in our state and other states surpass us by equipping their officers and the public with knowledge through social media and other tools that enable better protections and provide ...