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Another week, another list of insufferable jerks. But the word on the street is that this week’s Jerk of the Week might be on the administration’s chopping block [ [link removed] ]…
KASH PATEL. First is our intrepid FBI Director, who can’t believe the free press is freely reporting about him. On Tuesday, Kash Patel filed [ [link removed] ] a $250 million lawsuit against The Atlantic over an article [ [link removed] ] alleging that he has a drinking problem. That allegation is going to be pretty hard to shake when there’s a video [ [link removed] ] of him chugging a beer on government time at the Olympics just two months ago. He also made sure to brag about how hard he’s been working, claiming that he’s been on the job “twice as many days” as his predecessors.
If you’re curious how he’s been spending those days, the answer is playing dress-up [ [link removed] ] for photo ops of him sporting camouflage, shades, and jackets with the classic yellow FBI print. A former FBI analyst says that it’s at the behest of Donald Trump, who was disappointed that videos of raids didn’t look like what he’s seen on TV. And that’s not the only thing Kash is wasting taxpayer dollars on. His other recent tiff [ [link removed] ] with the media is over reports that he’s using bureau staff to provide a security detail to his girlfriend and ferry her to hair appointments and music events. Conveniently, the journalist who revealed this has since been investigated by federal agents. But Kash said that his agency had “absolutely not” requested the investigation. Whatever you say, Kash.
THE HOUSE GOP. Also frantically trying to please Trump are members of the House GOP, who now have a long list of bills [ [link removed] ] in the running to honor the jerk of all jerks. These include adding Trump’s face to Mt. Rushmore—never mind it being architecturally impossible—and a $250 bill, in addition to renaming both Dulles International Airport and Palm Beach International Airport after him. They also want to make his birthday a federal holiday and direct the NIH to conduct research on “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Finally, they’re leaning into Trump’s obsession with medals by calling for the State Department to award an annual “Trump Peace Prize” and for Trump himself to be given the Congressional Gold Medal. If I had to give an award to anyone, it’d be to these lawmakers for most times kissing Donald Trump’s ass.
KEVIN WARSH. Someone desperate to convince everyone he won’t bootlick Trump is his pick for Fed chair, Kevin Warsh. On Tuesday, he spent his confirmation hearing denying [ [link removed] ] that he won’t bow to the president on interest rates or be, as Sen. John Kennedy put it [ [link removed] ], his “human sock puppet.” But when Sen. Elizabeth Warren grilled him on whether he’d confirm that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, he couldn’t seem to muster a direct answer. Sigh.
GANNON KEN VAN DYKE. Then there’s the active-duty soldier who used classified information to bet [ [link removed] ] on the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He’s facing insider trading charges after making more than $409,000 on trades on the prediction market Polymarket, while he was himself involved in the operation. Trump’s response is that he’s “not happy with any of that stuff,” though clearly he’s not too concerned, as his presidency has been riddled [ [link removed] ] with allegations of insider trading. Just the kind of jerk behavior I’d expect under this administration.
FIREARMS POLICY COALITION. Last but certainly not least is the Firearms Policy Coalition, a gun rights group whose solution [ [link removed] ] to falling donations was to use a school shooting survivor’s birthday as a fundraising opportunity. The day before the birthday of David Hogg, a survivor of the horrific Parkland mass shooting, they encouraged members to “give him the middle finger” by donating to support their lawsuits against gun laws. I’m a huge gun rights supporter, but this is just disgraceful.
Of course, the biggest jerk of the week, month, year, and decade is always Donald Trump himself, but there’s only so much space here to write about all the horrible things he does in a single day, much less a week. Fuck Trump.
Now scroll down for our Heroes of the Week!
This Past Week
My Substack Lives are open to all subscribers, unless noted. Click below if you missed any of my conversations from the past week!
Thursday with [ [link removed] ] [ [link removed] ]paid subscribers [ [link removed] ]
Friday with Mike Nellis [ [link removed] ]
Amid the daily onslaught of infuriating news, we have to acknowledge the heroes among us. The list continues to grow, as more and more of us stand up to the tyrant and his fascist regime. Courage is infectious. Be brave!
VIRGINIA VOTERS. On Tuesday, Virginia voters headed to the polls to decide [ [link removed] ] the fate of a mid-decade redistricting plan that could win the Democrats as many as four new U.S. house seats come November. And despite confusion [ [link removed] ] and an obstinate judge [ [link removed] ], they still made the right choice. Keep up the fight.
PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL. On Thursday, the city council passed [ [link removed] ] a sweeping package of “ICE Out” legislation prohibiting agents’ use of masks, limiting what information the city shares with them, and barring them from city property, among other restrictions. “This legislation shows that Philadelphians are not afraid to stand up to the Trump Administration,” said Councilmember Kendra Brooks, who co-introduced the legislation following the murder of Alex Pretti. “We do not take kindly to bullies who try to intimidate people in our communities.” That’s the fight we need to take to ICE nationwide.
THE JUDICIARY. I say this every week, but thank God for the judiciary. This week’s heroes in the courts included the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which struck down [ [link removed] ] Trump’s cruel ban on asylum-seeking at the Southern border. Judge Mustafa Kasubhai blocked [ [link removed] ] HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s attempt to withdraw federal funding from healthcare providers that provide gender-affirming care, calling him out for sowing “chaos and terror.” Meanwhile, judges in Wisconsin pressed onward [ [link removed] ] with cases holding former Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Jim Troupis accountable for their plot to use false electors to overturn the 2020 election results. Damn straight, judges.
FOREIGN FIGHTERS. Fighters abroad are also doing their part to remind the Trump Administration it doesn’t act with impunity. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky this week called out [ [link removed] ] the administration for its “disrespectful” behavior in sending envoys to Moscow and not to Kyiv. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is sick of this administration’s disrespect, too. On Wednesday, he said [ [link removed] ] that Canada would not be a “supplicant” to its demands in the current review of the trade treaty between Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. Our allies deserve the same respect they give to us. Good on them for standing up.
FIGHTERS EVERYWHERE. Also standing up are 73 high-ranking veterans who submitted [ [link removed] ] a legal filing saying that the Trump Administration’s attack on Sen. Mark Kelly “risks silencing dissent from those who served in uniform.” Speaking of dissent, the nonprofit Public Citizen this week uncovered [ [link removed] ] a 14-page document detailing the White House’s deal with the Trust for the National Mall to fundraise for Trump’s ballroom while taking a cut from the donations. Celebrities are taking a stand, too, with the latest being actor Josh Hutcherson. He called out [ [link removed] ] the Trump Administration for its Hunger Games-style tyranny, saying that the country has “lost its way.” We need as many voices speaking out as possible right now.
HONORABLE MENTION: I might not be a Republican anymore, but every so often, I’ll come across a Republican who shows some spine. One of them is Doug Fiefia [ [link removed] ], a Republican state lawmaker and former Google employee in Utah who is pushing for local regulation of AI. That’s despite serious resistance from the Trump Administration, which shot down his proposal to require child safety protocols earlier this year. If more Republicans refused to capitulate to Trump like this we’d be living in a very different country right now.
Did we miss anyone? Send your heroes our way [ mailto:[email protected] ]!
Good Reads for This Week
It’s Okay to be Disgusted and Bored [ [link removed] ] —June Klees, Ph.D.
The Media’s Gross Performance after the WHCD Shooting [ [link removed] ] —Salty Politics
The Corruption Is the Strategy [ [link removed] ] —The Warning with Steve Schmidt
It Was Clearly a Guy in a Bear Suit [ [link removed] ] —Wanderland
The Oldest Hatred Is Back, and I Am Absolutely Done with This Shit. Get Angry and Then Get Angrier [ [link removed] ] —Andrew Fox
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