Host - Dave and Betsy Smith. Guests - Beatrice Cory Stephens
The Hysteria Epidemic in America
Good morning, Tucson and Pima County in Southern Arizona and Cochise County. While Kathleen Winn is away until Monday, Dave Smith and Betsy Smith are stepping in today.
We've become a nation of hysterics. Think back 40 years ago to Phoenix's hottest day in history at 122 degrees. As a training lieutenant in Phoenix, we did noon runs the day before at 118 degrees. It was brutal. The next day, they shut down Sky Harbor because they didn't have weight and balance charts for temperatures over 120 degrees.
Tucson and Phoenix have always been hot. That's nothing new. But this odd hysteria we're experiencing extends into everything—our politics, media coverage, public discourse. It's all catastrophizing designed to scare you into giving up your freedoms and liberties.
ICE Agents and Political Attacks on Law Enforcement
The latest example? Arizona Attorney General Chris Mayes attacking ICE agents for wearing masks during operations. As former specialized officers in narcotics and SWAT, we know masks were standard operational equipment depending on the situation. When conducting search warrants, officers do everything possible to hide their identities for protection.
What's different now is having an Attorney General who works against law enforcement rather than supporting them. This new generation of self-described "Democrats"—who are actually Marxist communists—always protects criminals instead of law enforcement. This goes back to the Marxist theory of criminality, which argues crime is created by friction between the haves and have-nots.
Chris Mayes doesn't understand the nature of evil. She's putting officers at further risk by denying them anonymity while enforcing laws in high-risk situations. The solution isn't to uncover officers' faces but to continue enforcing the law and demanding justice—what you're supposed to do in a civil society.
On her X account (@AZ_AG_Mayes), she posts that "officers across Arizona do their job safely in uniform without masks daily and ICE agents should too," talking nonsense about "secret police tactics." She clearly has no idea that Arizona peace officers are at risk—292 Arizona police officers have died in the line of duty over the years, and thousands more have been injured.
The entire radical Democrat party wants to create liability for ICE agents and law enforcement officers, if not get them injured. This has become a bizarre situation, and the mainstream media functions as a propaganda arm rather than reporting objectively.
Border Security and Immigration Enforcement
We've had two separate ambushes on Border Patrol agents this week in Texas where they had to use deadly force. Yesterday, a man was arrested in Harris County, Texas, for chasing down and crashing into an ICE vehicle attempting to kill the agents inside.
Meanwhile, Representative Jasmine Crockett is insanely claiming all this violence is actually coming from Trump supporters. The media is trying hard not to tell you the entire story about criminal illegal aliens being arrested.
Get your news from the source. If you want to know who's being arrested by ICE, go to DHS's own X feed. For example, in Cincinnati yesterday, headlines read "Children's Hospital Chaplain Arrested." The real story? An Egyptian national whose asylum status was revoked by the Biden administration because he was flagged by Biden's FBI, put on the terror watch list, didn't have proper fingerprints, has sued the federal government multiple times, and committed various crimes.
Call the Attorney General's office here in Arizona, call our representatives, call Mark Kelly's office, call Ruben Gallego's office and tell them you're tired of their party talking about doxing federal agents and slamming what federal agents are doing.
Speaking of Ruben Gallego, check his latest bid on Twitter where he's concerned about tariffs on fruits and vegetables from Mexico, encouraging people to buy Mexican tomatoes before the tariffs take effect. Does Gallego not know that Arizona is one of the most prolific providers of fruits and vegetables to the whole country? We actually commercially grow tomatoes here in Arizona. Gallego doesn't care about Arizona—he only cares about Mexico.
Election Integrity Concerns
We did nothing since 2020 to remedy the anomalies we saw in the election process. To the point now, we've been lied to so often. And don't say it's mistakes—it's lies. We've been asked to hold our nose and keep going.
When Dave and I worked as poll workers in 2022, our Marshall was Beatrice "Corey" Stevens. That experience opened our eyes to issues in our election system. Working on the Tohono O'odham Nation at polling location 88, we encountered printer failures and system issues. The elections department brought us an e-poll book that brought down the entire system.
The state law is simple: you can only take your own ballot or if you're a caretaker for family members. But in our training, we were told we weren't allowed to ask if someone came in with a handful of ballots. Once those ballots are in the box, they count. The law becomes unenforceable.
Our numbers never matched up between printed ballots and the number of people who checked in. We had people saying it's unfair to make voters prove their identity, but we saw people willing to leave and come back with proper identification because they wanted to vote so badly. That motivation to vote was a heartening experience.
Conservative Coalition Building
I sit on several boards including Freedom Works PAC and the Southern Arizona Conservative Association (SACA) as a technical advisor. We've created the Conservative Coalition of America, a council that brings together many conservative boards and organizations to form an alliance. These organizations share knowledge, resources, and information while supporting each other.
The coalition includes Freedom Works PAC, SACA, Cochise County Conservatives, the Navajo Nation, and Turning Point Action. We've also reached out to the U of A Young Republicans, which is the fastest-growing club on the college campus.
The future of our party is going to be clubs like this. Political parties are very structured and dependent on PCs getting involved. If PCs don't participate, nothing happens. It's a top-down structure but comes from the bottom up. You may have a state party that does nothing or actually opposes local issues at the county or legislative district level.
In a club, it's self-selective and merit-based. You can remove someone who doesn't perform. A club has the ability to build unified associations that give more influence and the ability to flex quickly.
You don't necessarily have to be a Republican to be part of the coalition—it's about conservative organizations expanding beyond Arizona to other states, sharing data, resources, and knowledge. We're sharing event information and getting the grassroots involved.
Getting Involved and Taking Action
Don't be made helpless by all these things, because that's what they want you to do. They want you to sit on that couch. They don't want you to do anything with your ballot or exercise your vote.
We can't get people to knock on doors, go knock on doors! If you don't want to be rejected, then text, help phone bank, or help fill out postcards. The problem is that the media, in its neglect, and politicians, in their silence, have let the people of Tucson and Pima County become helpless. They act as if there's nothing they can do, as if they can't possibly win.
This really isn't a partisan issue. We're seeing support from Democrats and independents for newer candidates like J.L. Wittenbraker and J. Tolkoff because people, even Democrats, are getting tired of what's happening.
Media Bias and Free Speech Concerns
Douglas Mackey, the man sentenced to seven months in federal prison for posting a Hillary Clinton-themed meme in 2016—there's nothing more fascist than taking someone who posts an obviously sarcastic meme and putting them in prison, or taking someone praying outside an abortion clinic and putting them in prison. This is the kind of bizarre totalitarian malarkey we see when Democrats gain power.
When Biden got elected, his Department of Justice went after Mackey. In my personal opinion, Hillary told him to. If you make yourself suffer enough to listen to any Hillary speeches these days, she loves to talk about putting people in prison for things they say. She truly believes that MAGA supporters, perceived conservatives, should go to reeducation camps.
Twitter (now X) immediately took down Mackey's post. As we now know, Twitter was working with the Biden White House to put out misinformation, especially about COVID. The Biden DOJ charged Mackey in 2021, waiting almost five years to charge him, using a post-Civil War era law called "conspiracy against rights" related to voting rights.
Flooding Tragedies and Political Response
America suffered horrible tragedies with floods in Kerr County, Texas and Rio Dozo, North Carolina. What's most disturbing, especially with the Texas flood where many young Christian children were killed at a camp, is the vehemence—the literal demonology—of the left and how they reacted with sheer joy at tragedy and suffering. This is demonic and evil.
Hannah Arendt in her book "Eichmann in Jerusalem," which is a study in the banality of evil, concludes that what happened in Germany was that evil became duty. I find this constantly being a theme here in our country, which is based on liberty, the value of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We had a pediatrician from Bluefish Pediatrics post horrible statements suggesting these children deserved to die because their families supposedly voted for Trump (though she has no idea about their politics). We had a woman who is the partner of a pastor in a church near Houston post that these children deserved to die because they're white, and if they were black or brown, nobody would have cared.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is lying, claiming flood warnings never occurred in Texas. The facts show the National Weather Service issued a flood warning nearly 15 hours earlier on Thursday when the flash flooding began. They also issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. on Friday, three hours before the Guadalupe River crested.
The Democrat Party has become the mob. You see this when you watch the riots in LA, San Francisco, New York, and don't forget Portland—it's a nightly event now in Portland, though not as intense as in 2016. The media won't talk about it—this is propaganda by silence.
Freedom Works PAC Event for Alex Collidan
Our event from Freedom Works PAC is called "Saddle Up for Change." This event is crucial because we need to make changes, and people need to understand that the upcoming election for Secretary of State filters down to all our local elections. We must get Alex Collidan in office.
On July 26th at Whiskey Roads (2290 West Ina Road), we're having an amazing fundraiser featuring the Jesse Colt band and great speakers like former House Rep Cory Magar and election expert Seth Keshel (Captain Keshel). We'll have fun games with prizes and silent auction items to benefit Alex Collidan's campaign.
The Secretary of State position certifies our elections. If you're in business, that's where your trade names come from. In 2024, Collidan sponsored a bill to resolve conflicts between Arizona election law and the federal Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022, which was signed into law and touted as putting critical election integrity reforms into law.
The bill strengthened voter confidence and put in voter verification rules confirming the identity of early voters. Alex is an attorney by trade, a member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, and an amazing person who will answer anything you ask him. He doesn't come up with political gobbledygook—he just answers your question honestly.
Taking Responsibility for Community Safety
You've got to take accountability for your own safety and security. That also means looking at how you vote. We have an election coming up in CD7 along the border, Yuma, and the West Valley. We also have a city council vote coming up.
If you live in the city proper of Tucson, you get to vote for every ward's candidate. Republicans will vote for our Republican candidates, J.L. Wittenbraker and J. Tolkoff, who are running unopposed. Often conservatives and Republicans say there's no hope anyway, especially when we don't have competing candidates.
Our local media doesn't highlight the problems. They cover Mayor Regina Romero with such glowing praise when in reality, she works hard to destroy this beautiful city and doesn't particularly care about the citizens or law enforcement. As an avowed Marxist, she wants to see America brought to its knees, not as the shining city on the hill but just another crummy country.
This is why you see polling showing people who are politically on the left are not patriotic, not proud to be American, and not proud of the United States. Regina Romero and her ilk fall into that category.
Tucson needs to be liberated. We need to be informed citizens who look around and pay attention to what's happening. With crime rates rising because our law enforcement has been relegated to fourth or fifth priority by the City Council and Pima County Board of Supervisors, we must take responsibility for our own safety and security.
Positive Responses to Tragedy
On a more positive note regarding Kerr County, Texas, many celebrities are helping without cameras or publicity. Jelly Roll went to Kerr County with no cameras, brought food and supplies, and, as a Christian, talked to grieving families and first responders, hugging them and praying with them.
Many dogs are being rescued by first responders who are now in full recovery mode. While there are likely no human survivors left to find, many pets are surviving and being fished out of floodwaters. If you want to donate, there are many great places—our personal favorite is Samaritan's Purse. Some folks from Pima County have been taking supplies down there.
The happiest lives are lives of meaning. If you're retired, pick another course, another mission, another goal. Get involved in something that makes a meaningful contribution to your life. Keep growing, keep learning, and keep listening to KVOI to learn from our different talents that come on to teach all kinds of issues.