Mac and Mike here. That guy would be Mike. I would be Mac.
We sat in the kitchen the other day and bounced around 101 different topics, convinced we’d landed on a killer one for today’s video or podcast. By the time we wrapped up, though—we’d completely forgotten which one it was. Mike, do you even remember?
Yeah, there were several good ones.
What really gets under my skin—and I know it bugs you too—is how many people are too lazy to look up whether what they believe, or just posted on social media, is actually true. And that includes friends on the right. I have friends on the left and on the right, and I guess I can be a real pain to deal with because I come at people with facts, regardless of which side they’re on.
I think you come at people with facts. I wouldn’t always call it “the truth,” because sometimes our facts turn out not to be so accurate. But they’re the best facts we have at the moment.
Exactly. Our opinions should be grounded in as much factual information as possible. Like Occam’s Razor says: the simplest solution to a complex problem is usually the correct one—but only based on the accurate information you have at hand. Of course, with current events, there are things we just don’t know yet.
Take the recent incidents in Minnesota, for example. The investigations aren’t complete. Unless you’ve been surrounded by a mob, had to decide in a split second whether to pull the trigger, or taken a life, you really don’t know what you’re talking about. Even though I’ve been in those situations, I won’t judge someone else’s circumstances. I wasn’t there. I don’t know their headspace or their life experiences.
People jump straight to “they just hauled off and killed them for no reason.” I’ve never met anyone who killed for no reason—unless they’re a total psychopath with no emotions. You might kill for the wrong reason, or by mistake, but it’s rarely arbitrary.
So I always say: let’s wait for the investigation to finish. Then someone comes back with, “Well, the investigations are being run by the people who want to cover it up.” At that point, you realize you’re never going to win those debates.
Facts are stubborn things—they’re hard to hide forever. But look at the case where that woman tried to hit an ICE agent with her car, and the bullet went through the front windshield. We’re all sorry she’s gone, but her actions prompted the response that led to her death, in my view.
With Alex Pretti, though—I’m not so sure that wasn’t a mistake. I’m not blaming the ICE agents; I wouldn’t want any job involving police work, investigations, or crowd control. We’ve seen how mistakes happen—like at Kent State during the Vietnam War protests in the late ’60s. Errors are always possible, hard to predict, and even harder to undo.
One thing our generation has over today’s is the lack of instant technology we grew up with. In grade school and junior high, research meant going to the public library. You dug through encyclopedias, books, newspapers—no speaking into your phone for an AI summary. You couldn’t just cut and paste; plagiarism was a real risk, and teachers made you take notes, cite sources properly with footnotes (like “Encyclopædia Britannica, edition such-and-such, volume 6, page 137”), and paraphrase in your own words.
We were forced to do real research, cross-check multiple sources, and justify everything. That built a habit of verifying facts. Today, people type a question into a search engine or AI, get an instant answer pulling from 147 references, and accept it without digging deeper.
You and I are different—we’ll run the same question through multiple AIs (Gemini, Grok, ChatGPT), compare answers, spot nuances, ask follow-ups. AI is great at research—like a supercharged Google—but you still have to govern it. Ask follow-on questions. Challenge it. I’ve seen it apologize and adjust when I point out something it missed.
Humans and AI think differently. Back in the day, a Google search meant sifting through 10 pages of results, spam, ads. AI searches deeper and faster, but it’s still just research. You have to be the critical thinker.
We get caught up in emotionally charged topics like religion or politics and miss the nuances. Two people can watch the same video and reach opposite conclusions—what does that tell you? The difference is between the ears. Video is 2D; the real world is 3D. As combat vets, we know there’s smell, heat, tension you can’t capture. You can’t put yourself in that person’s shoes, know their history, their mindset.
We try to standardize behavior in the military, but people are different. I don’t judge quickly like others do.
The frustration hits when people accept statements delivered with total conviction as truth instead of opinion. There’s an old saying: “Never argue with an idiot—they’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
A lot of what passes for news is opinion dressed up as fact—left-leaning or right-leaning. Rarely do you get “just the facts, ma’am,” like Sergeant Joe Friday on Dragnet.
Even with facts, people interpret them through their upbringing, experiences, biases. In-person conversations help—tone, smiles, dry wit come through. Online, it’s stilted; people get emboldened because there’s no real consequence.
Take Rachel Maddow—she’ll look straight at the camera and say things I know are false, with total conviction. Viewers on the receiving end believe it. Some people lie to themselves until they believe their own lies, and that’s dangerous.
Or that recent story: ICE was arresting a pedophile here illegally. Protesters showed up opposing the agents’ presence. One woman picked up what she thought was tear gas (it was a flashbang), tried to throw it back, and it exploded—taking off fingers. She started a GoFundMe calling herself a hero for “opposing ICE.” Normal Americans don’t protest arresting pedophiles, regardless of politics. Yet she framed it as protecting “undocumented citizens trying to make a better life.” That’s her truth, but not the facts. Sad all around.
We could go on forever, but the core is this: have opinions, but ground them in facts. Verify. Debate in person when possible. Recognize we all see the world through our own lenses. And remember—everyone needs meaning, direction, and purpose. Lose that, and things can go dark fast.
We beat this horse enough today.
Mac and Mike, out.
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