From Cash-Filled Barf Bag To Royal Drama And Media Language Wars

The morning starts soft—fog on the windshield, coffee in hand—then swerves into a ride full of surprise, conflict, and big questions. We move from a flight attendant’s barf bag full of cash to a very public feud in conservative media and a royal blowup that ends with a smile for the cameras. Every turn asks the same thing: who owns the story we tell about our lives?

First, we unpack the Bongino flare-up and the way movements sort friends from enemies with labels that heat up the room but cool down real debate. Then we reset with a moment of pure kindness: passengers pooling $208 to thank a crew member who kept the cabin calm. It’s a reminder that generosity lands hardest when it’s personal, not performative.

From there, we revisit a flash of royal history—a thrown racket, closed doors, and a press-ready recovery—and consider the tension between private truth and public duty. Finally, we step right into the newsroom, where language itself is a battleground. Should journalists adopt terminology from advocacy group style guides? Where do respect, clarity, and editorial independence meet without canceling each other out? We argue for precision and empathy, side by side, and for editors who explain their choices out loud.

We end with an open challenge: make one bold prediction for the year that isn’t already on the calendar. Sports, politics, tech, culture—call your shot and tell us why. If this conversation hits your curiosity nerve, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves a good argument, and leave a quick review with your prediction so we can read it on air.

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Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Foggy Morning And Cozy Vibes
• 1:41 Tensions Around Dan Bongino
• 2:37 The Cash-Filled Barf Bag Tip
• 4:39 Royals, The Crown, And A Fight
• 7:20 Media Style Guides And Pushback
• 10:18 Predictions For The New Year

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

Well, hello, good morning, my little love bunnies. Uh twenty-seven, twenty-six more episodes, something like that. Is it too early to start the countdown? I don't know. It is very foggy here this morning. Very foggy drive into work. And typically, normally, I would like this kind of weather. You know, it's foggy, it's not hot, it's not cold, it's damp outside. I like this kind of weather. To me, it's romantic, unless you have to get up and come to work. I don't like that part of it. Okay. Ah, moving on. Just imagine sitting by, you know, the window. Oh, look at the little joggers. There's three joggers out. One with a stroller. They got their little headlights, four joggers. They have their little headlights on, jogging in this weather. I thought there was a stroller. There's no stroller. Okay, anyway, moving on. I was gonna try to describe the romantic scene of sitting by the window in a comfy chair with some blankets and some cup, hot cup of coffee, reading a book with the fog outside. Okay, whatever. Moving on. Let's see, what do I have picked out for you today? It was hard to find some stuff. Um, what is going on with Dan Bongino, y'all? Wow. Somebody, somebody uh typed, instead of showing a modicum of integrity, did I pronounce that word right? Or of or humility, Dan Bongino has decided to attack anyone who hurt his feelings or refused to mindlessly cheerlead for him. Anyone who had legitimate questions or criticisms, we are now the enemy. Of course. Uh Nick Sorter report re uh uh post Dan Bongino announces he's declared war on grifters and black pillars attempting to hijack MAGA. There's about to be some freaking hell to pay. What is a black pillar? Is this a new a new term people have made up? These terms. We're gonna get to terms in a minute here. Let's start with this new with this flight attendant was gifted$208 as a tip. Wow, this was no gag gift. Uh flight attendant blessed after receiving cash-filled barf bag from generous passengers. I guess they took up a collection to tip her. A flight attendant thought it was just another day at work when she handed a when she was handed a barf bag mid-flight, only to be left stunned when she discovered it was stuffed with cash gifted to her from every passenger. Now, if I'm a flight attendant, somebody hands me a barf bag, guess where it's going? In the garbage. So I mean, Brittany blew it, that's her name, and she kind of I don't know if it's a girl or not. Kind of looks like a dude trying to be a girl, but I don't know. I could be wrong, was overcome with emotion when she found$208 tucked into a bag on a flight last month. When we do receive tips, it's typically$5 or$20, she told people, adding that she's never experienced an entire cabin of passengers come together to show such generosity. It may not seem like a huge amount to some, but it was an incredible blessing to me. I think it would be a large amount to me too. Blewett, who shared the heartwarming story on her TikTok on December 14th, was serving drinks when a male passenger handed her the closed gag bag and said, This is for you. She initially laughed, thinking he was joking until his words started echoing in her head after she finished cleaning the cabin. That's when she opened the bag and made and made the starting starting revelation. I honestly thought he was handing me something that needed to be tossed. Yeah, I would say so. That's when it really hit me. In the video, which has amassed nearly 9,000 views on the social platform, an emotional blue it is seen holding the white bag containing rolled up$20 bills inside. She captioned the TikTok blessed. That's all. Okay, you can go finish reading that. What do you think about that? Alright, let's see. Moving on. Uh, shoe throwing temper tantrums and shocking frugility. Frugil frugality. I don't know. Uh inside Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's heated marriage. Now, they showed this scene on the crown. So it was quite interesting. Now, I know you probably don't care about this. We're not gonna get all into it. We're just gonna read a little bit of it. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip's marriage wasn't just about keeping calm and carrying on, as evidenced by a blow-up fight the couple once had while on a royal tour of Australia. They showed, like I said, they showed this scene on the crown. It was quite telling. She was really pissed off at him, and rightfully so, I forget what it was about. I think it was about his Gallivantin. Gallivantin around, you know, you know what I'm saying? She found a letter or something. Uh he used to go to this private club, and yeah, it was not good. The two were staying in the Yarrow Ranges, Victoria, in 1954 when Philip suddenly burst out of the college cottage and the queen on his heels, and she was hurling a tennis racket and shoes, writes Robert Jobson in his newly released book, The Windsor Legacy. After spotting a camera crew that had come out to film a staged moment with koalas, she quickly grabbed her husband, dragged him inside, and slammed the door shut. But that's not all. She fine she went out, she got herself dressed up, went out to the press, and said, What do you need me to do? So fortunately for the royals, a soundman exposed the film and handed it over to the Queen's press secretary, who gratefully accepted it. So he gave up. There's no you can't see it because they don't have it anymore. They gave the film to the royals. After regaining her composure, the monarch came out of the cottage smiling. She said, sorry for the little interlude. She said, It happens in every marriage. Now, what would you like me to do? You can go finish reading that. I thought that was interesting. Uh, because royal family fighting. You know, when I first the first time I watched the crown, I watched it all the way through and I enjoyed it. I really loved seeing some of the history and the inside of the palace and all this stuff and the workings of how they do and just some of the history and everything. How all that went. But the second round I watched, I thought she was not as strong as I thought she was. She needed to be stronger, more uh independent or more authoritarian, not authoritarian, but throw your weight around. But she didn't do it. Alright, so let's see. Moving on. This next story I only added because I think it's ridiculous, and we'll get to it. It's kind of confusing. CBS News staff clashed over transgender language in internal email blowup. Try to, I'm just gonna read it. I'll try to follow it. A CBS News correspondent sparked an internal clash after circulating a staff-wide email urging colleagues to avoid language recommended by a trans journalist group when writing about transgender people, according to the reports. The dispute erupted November 6th when staffers received an email from a prominent correspondent saying the network should refrain from adopting terminology advocated by the Trans Journalist Association, TGA, The Guardian reported. This is where I want to stop. Who the F are these trans journalist association? And they've created their own style book and they're putting it out to the media and saying, This is how you should talk about us. What a bunch of bullshit. No, no, don't listen to them. The message took aim at guidance from the Trans Journalist Association style book, which advises reporters and editors on how to improve news coverage of trans people and the stories that affect them. Who in the F sanctioned these people to come out and say that they're the TGA, uh, whatever it's called, uh, and we have a style book, and you have to abide by this. It's the law, it's the rule, that's what you have to do. No, sir. If that's the case, then I think the patent heads, we're a group of people. We have a style book. They play it all the time. Rowdy has it on a website, Rowdy Introvert has it on a website. I think we should put it in circulation and say, Let's send it out to the media, other media people, and say, This is how you should talk. This is what should happen. When you are reporting on Al Gore, you need to impersonate his voice. Or let's say they are reporting on a trans incident or trans person, then they should absolutely have to play the clip. It's ma'am. That's what they should have to do. We have our own style book. Let's put it together and send it out to the media. We're a group of people, so we can do it too. Ridiculous. I mean, come on. All right, we need to move on to the question of the day. Okay, it's not really kind of a question, but we're seven days into the new year. We're back on a regular schedule and routine. How do you think the new year's is the new year is going shaping up so far? But I think the main thing I want you to tell me is give me a prediction that's gonna happen this year. And it can't be something we know that's gonna happen. Give me something, give me a prediction that you want to see to happen, or what do you think is gonna happen with anything? It could be sports, it could be politics, it could be whatever, entertainment, whatever. Um, okay, that's all I've got for you. Thanks for listening. Have a great day. Bye.