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Vivek's Ancestry - Big Picture with Jack Atherton · Brian Thomas

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: It's 7 0 6.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: And it's Wednesday.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: I always get excited for this moment in time during
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the 55 KC morning show. We, because it's time to
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: get the brilliance of Jack Atherton. We call it the
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: big picture with Jack Atherton. Jack, welcome back to the
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: morning show. My friend, love having you on.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning. Birthday boy.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Good one.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: I had a great one. Yeah. Uh, early birthday celebration
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  Speaker 1: on Sunday. My birthday was Monday. Um, Great family dinner.
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  Speaker 1: We all chipped in and helped out, including me, and
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  Speaker 1: prepared a wonderful meal. I got the company of my
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  Speaker 1: mom and my children and my son-in-law, which I'm proud
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  Speaker 1: to say out loud, I love having a son-in-law. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it was great. Really enjoyed it. Just a real low-key,
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  Speaker 1: just relaxing weekend. And I appreciate my wife's efforts all
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: throughout the weekend as well. We enjoyed it.
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  Speaker 2: As we get older, we just keep celebrating. But let's
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  Speaker 2: talk about a much younger and more energetic man. Vivek Ramaswamy.
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  Speaker 2: Unless we're all complete idiots, in about six weeks, Ramaswamy
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  Speaker 2: is going to be elected governor of the great state
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  Speaker 2: of Ohio. He wants to slash our confiscatory property taxes
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  Speaker 2: and phase out the state income tax. And if Vivek
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  Speaker 2: and our too often useless GOP lawmakers actually follow through,
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  Speaker 2: Ohio will be as big a magnet for industry and
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  Speaker 2: jobs as Florida, Texas, and and Tennessee. Vivek also wants
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  Speaker 2: to expand energy production, both natural gas and alternative energy.
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  Speaker 2: That'll lower our killer utility bills. Volunteering as a public
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  Speaker 2: school tutor, I also applaud Vivek's focus on education, on students,
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  Speaker 2: not teacher unions. He wants to raise achievement standards and
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  Speaker 2: expand school choice, including lots more career and technical schools.
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  Speaker 2: I could go on about his business background, his marriage
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  Speaker 2: and family, but Brian, can we celebrate something else Vivek
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  Speaker 2: Ramaswamy is rightly proud of?
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  Speaker 1: Please.
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  Speaker 2: Being an Indian American. Vivek may be a trailblazer in
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  Speaker 2: local politics, but for a long time now, Indians have
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  Speaker 2: been many of our most brilliant and productive fellow citizens.
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  Speaker 2: Five and a half million Indians and counting are now
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  Speaker 2: the second biggest group of Asian Americans increasing by 125%
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  Speaker 2: just since 2000. One reason? Most Indians, including the professional
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  Speaker 2: women I know, love devoting themselves to children. Not Hillary
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  Speaker 2: Clinton's village full of children, young and old. Their own kids.
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  Speaker 2: When you and I grew up, Ryan, East Indians were
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  Speaker 2: often the butt of jokes. They were untouchables in old
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  Speaker 2: Hollywood movies like Gunga Din, which glorified British colonialism that
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  Speaker 2: was often bigoted and cruel. On the other hand, a
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  Speaker 2: very affecting film, I have to admit, by Mayor Zoran
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  Speaker 2: Mamdani's mom, Mira Nair, called The Namesake, showed how tough
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  Speaker 2: it was to assimilate coming to America. Although that does
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  Speaker 2: not excuse Zoran becoming a communist. The fake Ramaswami and
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: children of other immigrants from around the world face challenges too.
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  Speaker 2: and still championed America's free market limited government. On a
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  Speaker 2: lighter note, we think of Indians disco dancing in Bollywood movies.
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  Speaker 2: If you've never seen one of these, I'd start with
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  Speaker 2: one set in India, but it's in the English language,
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  Speaker 2: updating Jane Austen. It's called Bride and Prejudice. You'll love it.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Since we talk history, Gandhi from 1982 explores India's fight
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  Speaker 2: for independence. something we can relate to during this 250th
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  Speaker 2: anniversary of America's independence. Mohandas Gandhi, later called Mahatma, meaning great-souled,
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  Speaker 2: was one of the humblest and most peaceful figures in history,
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  Speaker 2: a role model for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. But
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: let's go way back and consider an Indian who's widely
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  Speaker 2: considered the noblest ruler the world has ever seen. A
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  Speaker 2: couple of hundred years before Christ, Ashoka, started out as
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  Speaker 2: a warrior, as bloody as they come, until he learned
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  Speaker 2: about another Indian prince who renounced wealth and power to
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  Speaker 2: seek peace, starting with inner peace. Siddhartha Gautama came to
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  Speaker 2: be called the Buddha, the enlightened being. Emperor Ashoka embraced Buddhism,
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  Speaker 2: but he did not decree that others follow him. Ashoka
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  Speaker 2: tolerated all religions and practices and spread Buddhist teachings everywhere.
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  Speaker 2: not at the point of a sword, but through inscriptions
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  Speaker 2: carved on rocks and pillars, many of which we can
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  Speaker 2: still visit on their ancient sites throughout the subcontinent from
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  Speaker 2: India to Nepal. Beyond teaching, Ashoka directed his officials to
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  Speaker 2: relieve suffering wherever they found it, even in neighboring lands.
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  Speaker 2: That was remarkable for the time and in most times.
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  Speaker 2: But folks, you know which other country has done this?
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  Speaker 2: the United States of America. America has a record second
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  Speaker 2: to none in spreading literacy, medical care, sanitation, industry, defense,
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  Speaker 2: all the blessings of civilization around the world. We are
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  Speaker 2: far from perfect. We're not Buddhist monks. We're not always
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  Speaker 2: very good Christians and Jews. Yet from everything I've seen,
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  Speaker 2: Vivek Ramaswamy, a Hindu who also promotes Judeo-Christian values, would
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  Speaker 2: be inspired as governor by the examples of Dr. King,
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  Speaker 2: Mahatma Gandhi, and Ashoka, along with America's founders. That's a
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  Speaker 2: lot to live up to, but it sure beats being
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  Speaker 2: mentored by Karl Marx, which is true not just of
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  Speaker 2: Zoran Mamdani, but almost all of today's Democrat socialists. And
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  Speaker 2: what do you say, my enlightened and somewhat older friend?
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know, I always agree with what you have
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  Speaker 1: to say. You break it down so wonderfully. I love
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  Speaker 1: your historical references, as always. But, you know, when you
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  Speaker 1: mentioned the depiction of Indians in movies, you mentioned Gunga Din,
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  Speaker 1: and you commented on the caste system. And they did
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  Speaker 1: abolish the caste system, but, you know, that is a
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  Speaker 1: lingering problem for them. They still sort of have this societal,
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  Speaker 1: you know, look down their nose at certain people because
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  Speaker 1: of the formerly now abolished caste system. When you were
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  Speaker 1: born into a caste, you couldn't leave it. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: what an amazing contrast between the freedoms and liberties we
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  Speaker 1: enjoy here in America. Now, there may be inherent biases
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  Speaker 1: in people here, you know, holdover of racism. But, you know,
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  Speaker 1: time and time again, you have illustrations and demonstrations of
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  Speaker 1: people who were formerly subjected to slavery here in the
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  Speaker 1: United States or maybe were an untouchable under the Indian
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  Speaker 1: caste system and not capable of moving.
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  Speaker 2: Out of that.
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  Speaker 1: We moved out of it. Many African-Americans were able to
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  Speaker 1: achieve great success in spite of the Jim Crow laws
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  Speaker 1: that even existed on the books. We don't have those anymore.
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  Speaker 1: We have freedom and liberty here. We aren't stuck in
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  Speaker 1: one place. And the only thing stopping us from moving
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  Speaker 1: forward and up is maybe our own limitations and our
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  Speaker 1: own self-motivation. But it isn't a governmental, societal structure that
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  Speaker 1: prevents people from moving forward. Maybe that's why we've been
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  Speaker 1: such a great magnet for humanity in this country, the
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  Speaker 1: freedoms the freedom to enjoy and choose our own self-destiny, Jack.
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  Speaker 2: I'm glad you mentioned that because there was another movie,
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  Speaker 2: and I think the name of it was Slumlord Millionaire.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Where you saw how poor so many people are still
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  Speaker 2: in India.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, my, yes.
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  Speaker 2: They're doing their best. It's almost intractable because the place
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  Speaker 2: is so populated and the resources are not what they
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  Speaker 2: should be, and they're moving into the modern age. But
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: they're trying. Apparently, Modi, their current leader, is He's very
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: popular still, and he's been there for a while. But
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  Speaker 2: as for Americans' attitudes, at the last listener lunch, I
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  Speaker 2: spoke with a fan of yours. They were all fans
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  Speaker 2: of yours. This fellow worried that some voters may shy
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  Speaker 2: away from supporting a Hindu. You always hope we've moved
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  Speaker 2: beyond bigotry and politics. After all, in this land of
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  Speaker 2: alleged white supremacy, Barack Hussein Obama was elected president twice.
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  Speaker 2: and many Republicans who voted for a Republican, including myself.
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  Speaker 2: They were proud of that until the candidate who proclaimed
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  Speaker 2: there would be no red states, no blue states, only
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  Speaker 2: the United States, showed his true colors. He really did
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  Speaker 2: want to fundamentally transform America, and he went a long
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  Speaker 2: way toward doing that. Before Obama, people said we couldn't
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  Speaker 2: elect a Catholic because in 1928, New York Governor Al
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  Speaker 2: Smith went down in flames. Yet Jack Kennedy in 1960
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  Speaker 2: overcame the claims that he would take orders from the Pope.
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  Speaker 2: Now we hear that Josh Shapiro, Rahm Emanuel, and John
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  Speaker 2: Ossoff can't win the Democrat nomination because they're Jewish and
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  Speaker 2: support Israel. I would not vote for any of them
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  Speaker 2: because they're socialists, but I hope we've seen the last
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  Speaker 2: of bigotry.
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  Speaker 1: Amen to that. You know, you comment about JFK, and
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  Speaker 1: one of the reasons, I suppose, he won was the
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  Speaker 1: debate with Nixon, where Nixon looked all washed out and pale,
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  Speaker 1: and Kennedy was fresh off of a long day in
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  Speaker 1: the bath and was all make-upped up. And he was
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  Speaker 1: a good-looking, sharp-witted, and intelligent guy. He came across as great,
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  Speaker 1: and whether or not he had any substance behind his
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  Speaker 1: exterior looks, I just think that was maybe the beginning
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  Speaker 1: of looks... and polish versus substance becoming a dominant, a
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  Speaker 1: predominant factor in American politics. I mean, I don't think
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  Speaker 1: a guy like Gavin Newsom could be, uh, hired for
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  Speaker 1: a McDonald's manager, but look at him, you know, he's
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  Speaker 1: good looking and he's polished and he dresses great and he's,
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  Speaker 1: the leader of California. It's one of the biggest economies
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  Speaker 1: in the world. But he lacks in substance. We live
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  Speaker 1: in a TV age, and you've got to really look
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  Speaker 1: good to get votes these days. At least that's my impression.
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  Speaker 1: At least it seems to be, Jack.
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  Speaker 2: 1960, the Kennedy-Nixon year. We were on the cusp of
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  Speaker 2: the TV age. Many people heard that debate on the radio.
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  Speaker 2: And they say that if you listen on the radio,
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  Speaker 2: you thought Nixon won the poll afterward. But if you
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  Speaker 2: watched on TV, it was it was John F. Kennedy.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, we're shallow people, Jack. Take that away from this.
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  Speaker 2: You used to be shallow, but now you're older and
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  Speaker 2: you're no longer callow.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. And you know, I just, it really bothers me, Jack.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, I have had people literally say to
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  Speaker 1: me that they're not going to vote for Ramos on
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  Speaker 1: me because he's Hindu. I don't, I don't understand that, man.
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  Speaker 1: I really don't.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's why I talked about this topic today. I
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  Speaker 2: don't know that it's going to change people's minds, but
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  Speaker 2: I hope it makes them think twice. Um, this country,
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  Speaker 2: you know, people who are considered foreigners, you know, uh,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we were all foreigners at one point or
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  Speaker 2: another and it's, um, And we've all assimilated and we've
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  Speaker 2: all made tremendous contributions. We've got to get beyond that,
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  Speaker 2: especially when we have a great candidate like Vivek Ramaswamy.
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  Speaker 1: No doubt about it. A man who is not in
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  Speaker 1: a position to impose his religious will on anybody. Jack?
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  Speaker 2: No, nor does he want to.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: No, he doesn't. Jack Atherton, it is always a pleasure
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  Speaker 1: to have you here on the 55 KRC Morning Show.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: Appreciate your brilliance each week and your thoughtful analysis. And
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: I'll look forward to next Wednesday and doing it again.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Health and love to you and your better half, my friend.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: It's seven.