Episode 112 · The GaS Digital / Ray Kump Era
Living on the Edge of Death
Sep 6, 2018 · 1:02:30 · 17 segments, 125 moments indexed
- 1 min
Music and intro announcing the show, noting Tim isn't there yet and will call in later.
1moment
- 0:07Cold open: Tim Dillon Is Going To Hell with Tim Dillon and Ray Kump begins
- 1 min
Ripping the Swoosh Off His Nikes
#Ray opens by mocking the outrage over Nike's Colin Kaepernick ad campaign, describing dads burning shoes and cutting swooshes off their gear.
3moments
- 1:00Tim ripped the swoosh off his Nike gear over the Kaepernick controversy.
- 1:14Nike launched an ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, the NFL quarterback who kneels during the national anthem.
- 1:29Tim doesn't understand why people are outraged, suggesting it's because their fathers served in Vietnam.
- 4 min
The Troops Are Heroes, So Why Coddle Them?
#A long rant arguing that if soldiers are true heroes they should be able to withstand a kneeling protest, mocking Call of Duty armchair patriots, Fortnite players, and drone strikes on pipelines and Pakistani weddings.
8moments
- 1:41Nike protesters burning shoes over Kaepernick's kneeling are 'Call of Duty armchair cowboys' who didn't actually serve.
- 2:38Tim argues troops died at Iwo Jima and Normandy, not so people could walk around with holes in their socks.
- 3:16When Kaepernick kneels, he's not disgracing troops—he's protesting Abu Ghraib torture and abuse of detainees.
- 3:47We prevent protesting police brutality against Black kids to avoid offending soldiers, yet claim soldiers are heroes who don't need coddling.
- 4:05Old tough-guy archetypes like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood wouldn't need constant support and validation from civilians.
- 4:42Troops have guns—what meaningful support could a civilian like you actually provide them?
- 5:00People playing Fortnight and Call of Duty don't understand actual military burden like defending oil pipelines for Halliburton or conducting drone strikes.
- 5:19Tim questions why civilians are expected to support decisions like dropping drone strikes on Pakistani weddings.
Colin Kaepernickmilitary service and police violenceJohn WayneSeymour HershAbu GhraibHalliburtonClint Eastwood
- 1 min
Almost Joining the Military After 9/11
#Ray recalls being caught up in post-9/11 patriotism, imagining himself fat and hunting Bin Laden in caves, and reflects on how he got swept up despite not being a flag-waving type.
5moments
- 5:32Tim wanted to join the military after 9/11, right around the age he could have enlisted.
- 5:50Tim notes he would've been blamed as a scapegoat if he'd been a soldier when Osama bin Laden escaped through some CIA hole in the wall.
- 6:01He was fat at the time of 9/11, one of only a couple periods in his adult life when he wasn't overweight.
- 6:15Tim clarifies he wasn't the type kicking Muslims in the face at gas stations—he got swept up in patriotism without going that far.
- 6:38Tim acknowledges he's not immune to patriotism, but argues the "support the troops" messaging crammed down people's throats is absurd.
- 4 min
Vietnam Vets, Spitting Hippies, and the Myth of Rambo
#Ray dismantles the myth that Vietnam vets were widely spat on, cites drug use stats among soldiers, compares it to 60s civil rights violence and lynchings, and argues the troops have always been sent into meaningless wars from Normandy to Iraq.
10moments
- 7:09Tim estimates 85% of Vietnam soldiers were using dope, unsurprised given the jungle conditions and enemy tactics.
- 7:59He questions how many doped-up soldiers were actually succeeding at their objectives in Vietnam.
- 8:32Howie finds actual 1971 data: 51% smoked marijuana, 31% used psychedelics, 28% used hard drugs like cocaine and heroin.
- 9:03Tim pivots to the spitting-on-vets narrative: a few soldiers got spit on, but babies also got killed in the war.
- 9:19The Rambo myth—that Vietnam vets were hunted by local police—never actually happened; First Blood was fiction.
- 9:40He contrasts minor soldier incidents with actual 1960s violence: tear gas at the Democratic Convention, lynchings in the South, murdered civil rights activists.
- 10:11Tim argues troops have always had it fine and shouldn't be coddled; the real support is not sending them to pointless wars.
- 10:34He questions the Osama bin Laden narrative and calls the justification for Afghanistan a lie.
- 10:44Colin Powell, a great man disgraced, was either lied to or complicit in the false WMD claims that justified Iraq.
- 11:04The Iraq War killed a million people, but nobody protests that; instead people protest NFL players kneeling.
- 4 min
Kneeling Isn't Pissing on the Flag
#Ray argues NFL players kneeling is a mild gesture compared to what special forces endure, mocks the sacredness of the national anthem's War of 1812 origins, and fantasizes about Putin as a paternal figure tousling his hair.
7moments
- 11:40Kaepernick kneeled after talking to a soldier who suggested it as a respectful form of protest, not desecration.
- 11:59Tim argues that even if players were actually desecrating the flag, elite soldiers trained through Hell Week should be able to handle it.
- 12:40The flag itself is a horseshit representation—just a banner about a forgotten war from 1812.
- 13:07The national anthem's lyrics about fighting for freedom could apply to any country in the world; Russia uses the same framing.
- 13:42Tim imagines what it would be like to have a paternal leader like Putin tussle his hair and show him affection after school.
- 14:17American leaders over the last 50 years have either been shot, indicted, or disgraced—Reagan rotted in office, Bush faked wars, Clinton got impeached.
- 14:46Tim questions what great honor America is defending and finds the obsession with American exceptionalism reveals weakness.
Barack ObamaVladimir PutinGeorge W. BushRonald ReaganBill ClintonKaepernickDelta ForceSEAL Team 6
- 3 min
American Exceptionalism and Banana Republic Coups
#Ray argues American exceptionalism is a sign of weakness, citing CIA coups in Iran and Guatemala, comparisons to the British Empire, and outsourcing hot pocket labor from China to Laos to Zimbabwe.
8moments
- 15:00Tim on American exceptionalism: the U.S. pretends to be salt-of-the-earth farmers but actually overthrows governments when they don't get their way.
- 15:27United Fruit Company example — when Guatemala nationalized banana plants, America launched a coup instead of competing or innovating.
- 15:47Iran's elected progressive leader wanted to nationalize oil fields, so the CIA staged a coup with 'circus strongmen' rather than accept change.
- 16:04Overthrowing governments isn't exceptional; it's the act of weak people too afraid to let anything change.
- 16:45American factories abroad raise GDP temporarily, but once workers ask for higher wages, the U.S. moves production to a cheaper country.
- 17:02Manufacturing shifts from China to Thailand to Laos to Zimbabwe — chasing the cheapest labor while ignoring worker injuries and suffering.
- 17:37American exceptionalism is for buffoons — real strength would mean allowing your country's self-image to be challenged without constant military intervention.
- 17:54The sacrifice required: stop whining about decline and actually extend help to struggling countries rather than installing puppet regimes.
American exceptionalismCIAFranklin Delano RooseveltUnited FruitBritainChinaIranLaos+5 more
- 3 min
Tim calls in from LA, discusses his viral gag video about cutting Nike swooshes off gear that people mistook for genuine outrage, and describes walking barefoot around Skid Row and Ross Dress for Less looking for socks.
5moments
- 18:40Tim argues soldiers should be able to handle criticism of the flag without freaking out.
- 18:51He made a fake Nike Swoosh protest video on Instagram that many people think is real.
- 19:23The video's ending makes it clear it's a joke, but people don't watch that far.
- 19:58Tim walked barefoot around a Ross Dress for Less in LA to buy socks for the video shoot.
- 20:17He routinely walks barefoot around Skid Row in LA, claiming he developed thick skin on his feet that won't puncture from needles.
- 4 min
Tim and Ray debate David Remnick disinviting Steve Bannon from the New Yorker Festival after Bo Burnham and John Mulaney objected, discussing whether Bannon deserves a platform and comparing him to William F. Buckley.
9moments
- 21:02Tim on David Remnick inviting Steve Bannon to the New Yorker festival and the immediate backlash.
- 21:20After Bo Burnham, John Mulaney, and others threaten to boycott, the New Yorker disinvites Bannon.
- 21:44Bannon is an intelligent speaker, unlike Milo or Richard Spencer—worth engaging even if you disagree.
- 21:58America used to allow actual public debate and discourse with people you didn't agree with.
- 22:25John Mulaney compared Bannon to a cartoonish carnival, not a William F. Buckley versus James Baldwin-style intellectual debate.
- 23:00Tim questions whether anyone—any Trump supporter or ideological ally—should be given a platform in the view of his opponents.
- 23:28The left clearly wants no one from that camp to have a platform at all.
- 23:42The shift under Trump moved the Overton window rightward, making racist and anti-Semitic ideas suddenly acceptable in public discourse.
- 24:34A few years ago neo-Nazis marched and nobody showed up; there was a sense we'd moved past that era, though racism wasn't eliminated.
Steve BannonDavid RemnickRichard SpencerThe New YorkerAnn CoulterDonald TrumpMilo YiannopoulosJames Baldwin+4 more
- 5 min
They discuss Milo Yiannopoulos, Trump's Charlottesville comments, and argue the left's instinct to lump all right-leaning people together and cancel dissenters is backfiring and pushing people underground.
8moments
- 25:03Tim disagrees with how the left handles opposition figures, arguing they've taken a blanket stance to push people completely out of public debate.
- 25:38Republicans are better at playing dirty than Democrats and more effective at it.
- 26:12The left controls Hollywood and large parts of media, which allows them to shape culture and attack the right through those channels.
- 26:58Conservative people with rational temperaments don't typically seek positions in the arts, while people drawn to those jobs tend to be higher in empathy and lean left.
- 27:38Since Trump's election, an us-versus-them mentality has become the organizing principle of the left, with angry Twitter mobs canceling people for one wrong opinion.
- 28:16Tim argues the cancel culture mob backfired and drove people to support Trump because they don't want to feel one word away from being excommunicated.
- 28:43Social media vigilantes trying to ruin people's lives and get them fired actually lends credence to the idea that these people are an aggrieved party.
- 29:14Rather than cancel figures, the left should challenge and debate them to illustrate why their ideas are toxic.
Malcolm GladwellRepublican PartyElon MuskDonald TrumpWilliam F Buckley
- 6 min
Tim and Ray lament that the left lacks a strong debater like Obama to counter Bannon, discuss Bannon's radical post-WWII worldview, and riff on nation-states, national identity, and modern warfare being historically recent constructs.
10moments
- 29:57Tim argues the left has no equivalent to Bannon—no bold speaker willing to engage in debate.
- 30:44Bannon is radical and smart, believing post-WWII American policies have weakened the country.
- 31:41Tim has never felt Bannon speaks from neo-Nazi conviction or shock value, unlike Ann Coulter.
- 32:13Breitbart gave Milo Yiannopoulos a platform, but his content is mostly cartoonish conservative talking points.
- 33:08Lumping all right-leaning people into one group becomes self-fulfilling—they become the group you've accused them of being.
- 33:37Figures like Milo use humor to break down psychological barriers before introducing ideology to audiences.
- 33:53Trump at Charlottesville normalized white nationalist violence while claiming some protesters were good people.
- 34:27Trump's immigration rhetoric followed neo-fascist patterns of appeal to crime and dehumanization.
- 34:52Bannon and others vigorously endorsed Trump and set back racial progress in the country.
- 35:13The same standard should apply to Iraq War architects—they shouldn't be in polite society either.
Donald TrumpSteve BannonBarack ObamaMilo YiannopoulosHillary Clinton
- 1 min
They play Tim's viral gag video in full, an in-character rant about burning Nike gear that turns out to be Under Armour, which many viewers didn't realize was a joke.
6moments
- 35:42Tim announces he's done with Nike for disrespecting the national anthem and vows to take action.
- 35:58He reveals the shoes came from a Marine at a garage sale.
- 36:08Tim complains the shoes are made by communist China and bleeds while destroying them.
- 36:23Discovers the shoes are actually Under Armour, not Nike.
- 36:34Tim marvels at how crazy someone would have to be to not realize the video is a gag.
- 36:48He points out the absurdity: if someone actually supported the protest, they should be disgusted by the video, not liking it.
NikeUnder Armour
- 3 min
Tim riffs on the deep denial of unemployed people in LA who float from gig to gig, mocks going to a cold Malibu beach and doing nothing, and jokes about stepping on used needles on Skid Row.
5moments
- 37:23William Buckley wasn't William Buckley — the old conservative intellectual from the 50s-70s who debated Chomsky.
- 38:05Bannon's trying to get back to Buckley's era, but Buckley wasn't smarter than Bannon — he was defending economic colonialism and intervention in Greece and Vietnam.
- 38:55The idea that Buckley wouldn't be radical today is horseshit — back then Black people were still having trouble voting and the Civil Rights Act hadn't happened.
- 39:16Tim gets the instinct that Trump is scary, but questions whether Trump is actually going to blow up the world.
- 39:32Trump putting kids in cages on immigration is crazy, but Tim's not convinced he's the apocalyptic threat people claim.
- 8 min
A tangent about tall muscular surfers and their anatomy leads back into Tim ranting about the left's condescending refusal to engage with the right, comparing LBJ's effective ruthlessness to Kennedy's charisma.
11moments
- 39:41Tim discusses the rise of neo-fascism in Germany and Sweden, connecting national identity to recent political movements.
- 40:09National identity as a concept only became significant around the 1800s; before that, people identified more with regions and villages.
- 40:41Medieval warfare worked differently from modern total warfare — armies would fight in fields, and the winner would claim territory rather than destroy it.
- 41:21Modern warfare's absurdity: countries destroy nations in order to liberate them.
- 41:53Growing up in the 1990s felt different — there was pride in America between the Cold War's end and 9/11, which shattered that feeling.
- 42:31Tim returns from a technical issue and pivots to describing the desperation and lack of ambition he sees in Los Angeles.
- 43:25People in LA float around doing various gigs without real jobs, running their bank account down to zero each month.
- 44:18Tim went to Malibu with a friend, but the water was too cold to swim and his friend wanted to just sit and talk.
- 44:39Tim doesn't understand people who want to just sit on the beach doing nothing when they could be making something or being productive.
- 46:47Surfers are attractive — tall guys with long hair, muscular but not huge, and specifically the way their genitals look in a wetsuit.
- 47:20Tim describes the appeal of a surfer's anatomy as being like a dumb puppy that won't learn, a stupid animal quality.
- 6 min
Tim argues the left treats people as irredeemable for a single wrong opinion while claiming to believe in redemption for murderers, using Louis C.K. and Charlottesville marchers as examples, and fantasizes about him and Ray replacing Bannon at the New Yorker Festival.
10moments
- 47:56Tim argues entertainers should stop speaking up since the public rejected their messaging during the election.
- 48:19Democrats are doubling down on the attitudes that cost them the election—condescension, calling everyone Nazis, refusing to concede on border security.
- 49:01Tim thinks Bannon's right about something, but it's godless because it's not a moral move.
- 49:26People don't want to approach problems with victim mentality; they want strength and self-reliance, even if that's partly a myth.
- 50:23The quote 'don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good' explains what's wrong with purely ideological people.
- 51:02Lincoln wanted reconstruction to be gentler than Johnson's approach; isolating people just pushes them further into their ideological camps.
- 52:05Irredeemability as a concept is new and comes from the left—they'll redeem murderers but not people on the wrong Reddit thread.
- 52:40Tim imagines David Remnick replacing Bannon with him at the New Yorker festival and a room full of liberals eventually chanting for Bannon instead.
- 53:15Their worldview gets characterized as 'black pilling'—total nihilism that everything's fucked—which Tim says they don't actually believe.
- 53:41Black pilling means there is no hope and everything's fucked, a kind of total nihilism.
Steve BannonThe New YorkerLouis C.K.David RemnickAbraham LincolnAndrew Johnson
- 6 min
A bit imagining Tim and Ray as president and VP, becoming marginalized despotic strongmen fighting off gun-toting children at the White House, tying back into Trump's physical appearance and self-image as a mirror for the country.
10moments
- 54:13Tim argues that the underpinnings of society they discuss are based on actual documented CIA and government actions, not unfounded conspiracy.
- 54:44The system operates slowly through competing power factions, making pure altruism impossible without getting dirty.
- 55:34Kennedy was a complicated figure—better than Johnson, but an inveterate addict and philanderer.
- 56:03Johnson actually accomplished more for Black people, minorities, and women because he knew how to leverage power and play the political game.
- 56:58Kennedy and Trump both thrived by taking on every institution at once, lining them up and knocking them down.
- 57:26Tim and Ray wonder how they'll govern when they become president.
- 57:41They'll be marginalized and isolated quickly, forced to choose between accepting it or turning the military into their own despotic dictatorship.
- 58:17Tim suspects he and Ray would both get assassinated at once.
- 58:33Enemies would use any tactic to eliminate them—throwing armed children over the White House fence, turning the Easter egg hunt into a gang war.
- 59:00Trump is a gross, chubby, paunchy man, but he's rich and people know it, unlike Tim and Ray, who represent what the country actually is—a mirror most people don't want to look into.
- 3 min
Tim and Ray run through housekeeping: tour dates, timdilloncomedy.com, the iTunes review painting giveaway, Ray's morgue painting prints, his upcoming solo podcast, and thanking listeners before signing off.
9moments
- 59:36Tim plugs timbillacomedy.com and announces shows at the Big Hunt in DC this Friday and Saturday.
- 1:00:03Plans for live podcasts and live shows, with a goal to build followers on social media.
- 1:00:13Sign up at TimDawelComedy.com for tickets and alerts about a bus tour coming in October or November.
- 1:00:27Painting contest running for two more weeks—win a custom painting made by Tim by leaving an iTunes review.
- 1:01:12Take a screenshot of your iTunes review, post it on Instagram tagging Ray Komp or send it directly to enter the raffle.
- 1:01:28Tim is getting his morgue paintings—images of dead people and autopsies—reproduced as prints for sale.
- 1:01:38New Ray Komp solo podcast launching in a week or two, with details and promotion coming next week.
- 1:01:50New Yorker festival is coming up this week; Tim was mistaken for someone else and pushed out but trying to get back in.
- 1:02:03Live episode back in studio next week; Tim thanks everyone for joining and signs off.