No guest today, as our scheduled guest—everyone’s favorite Epstein investigative journalist
—had a last-minute kid soccer game scheduling snafu (parenting > podcasting). So it was just and me and honestly? It was kind of perfect to enjoy a meandering hour chatting up my BFF .After swapping soggy Halloween stories — yes, it rained in Seattle, shocking — I wished Lawrence “Rabbit Rabbit” for good luck on the first of the month and he thought I was making it up? Luckily a quick Wikipedia check proved it’s actually a thing. So Rabbit Rabbit to all of us. May our Novembers be full of love, light, and justice.
We could use it.
Then the conversation exploded, starting with us diving head-first into the internet’s latest conservative soap opera: the alleged Erika Kirk / J.D. Vance love-fest at a Turning Point USA event. Leather pants were discussed. Mourning etiquette was mocked. And I started the rumor that MAGA leaders picked Erika Kirk as future First Lady months ago, and then assassinated her husband, Charlie Kirk. A widow is far more sympathetic to conservative voters than a divorcee, is she not?
Hey, the other side has no respect for facts. Why should I?
You heard it here first.
But the tone shifted from pleather pants to policy as I spotlighted my new political hero, Connecticut State Senator Saud Anwar. He’s living on a $6.20/day food budget in solidarity with residents losing SNAP benefits, and documenting his meals on social media. We need more innovative and empathetic Democrats like this, please.
We know the courts order the Trump administration to fund SNAP, but we don’t know if they’re going to listen, or how long it’s going to take. So we anticipate a bumpy rollout window at best, with moms skipping meals so their kids can eat — and an outright refusal to fund SNAP at worst.
So if you’re able, now is a great time to donate to your local food banks. If you do, DM me a receipt, and I’ll match your contribution with another donation to mine.
Speaking of Democrats doing the right thing—Lawrence’s latest Substack essay highlights, well, the opposite. In it, he eviscerates Axelrod, Plouffe, and Carville’s new “Deciding to Win” report — a 58-page masterclass in how not to obey in advance. Lawrence and I tore into the false idea that Democrats should “move to the center” by sacrificing LGBTQ+ rights. It’s cowardly. It’s stupid.
We cannot state strongly enough how much we oppose this direction, and how badly we think this strategy will fail.
Watching the so-called leaders of the Democratic Party fall all over themselves to move “more moderate” by tossing minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ people under the bus is not so much a losing strategy as a borderline hate crime.
Just, no.
Do. Not. Want.
Have a read…
No One Gets Left Behind: Democrats Don’t Win by Selling Out Their Own
I’ve admired David Axelrod and David Plouffe for years. They helped shape campaigns that reminded America what conviction and message discipline could do. James Carville has always been too moderate for my taste, but I can’t ignore the fact that he did get Bill Clinton elected, and, for his time, had revolutionary insight into how to get Democrats elect…
By the end, we discussed Dutch election results (yay Rob Jetten!!), the political magic that is Costco, then hatched a new holiday shopping plan: skip Black Friday sales, boycott corporate junk, and instead gift Substack subscriptions or make a food-bank donations.
And that’s a ho-ho-holiday season we can get behind…
Thank you
, , , , , and many others for tuning in.We love you all, mean it!
