Everyone takes a walk on the wild side today — and Off the Beaten Path! Larry O’Connor and I discuss Gavin Newsom’s wanderings, the Dalai Lama story, Bud Light, Nike, and even Mac Davis. And today, we bring out our show from the VIP paywall to give readers a taste of what their support brings!

Welcome back to our aVIP video series “Off the Beaten Path,” featuring my friend Larry O’Connor! The Townhall columnist and Salem News Channel host starts off our week by discussing stories and ideas that may fly under our radar, in culture, politics, sports, and more. Plus, Larry previews tonight’s SNC show!

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As always, Larry and I cover the stories with equal measures seriousness and irreverence. We have a blast, and “speaking of having a blast,” I say, “everybody’s favorite governor is having a blast these days, and getting about as far away from his state as humanly possible. … I don’t begrudge anybody a vacation,” I add, but why is Gavin Newsom in the Bahamas?

“Too bad our state doesn’t have any place to go for vacation,” Larry quips. “He could go to, I mean, for God’s sake, California. It’s a destination for people worldwide. He wants to go on vacation, so he leaves and goes somewhere else.”

After fumbling around for the name of the actor doing California’s tourism ads (the great Anthony Anderson!), we shift gears and discuss Newsom’s clear political ambitions. “People shouldn’t sell this guy short,” Larry warns. “He is a maniacal, Machiavellian politician who will do whatever it takes to succeed and gain power,” even while his state’s big cities collapse culturally, economically, and just about in every other way possible.

We get very irreverent about the gross video of the Dalai Lama circulating now, and wonder why the media is remaining so quiet about it. That leads to discussion of Mac Davis and Jim Stafford — don’t ask, just watch — and that leads us to the woke-derailment of both Bud Light and Nike. And while we certainly have fun with the Bud Light part of the story, both Larry and I think that Nike’s use of Mulvaney for its womens’ sports bras is a lot more objectionable.

Next week, the show will be back behind the paywall, so sign up now!