Genuinely, The Most Insane Thing You Will Read Today
I know I’m setting the bar pretty high today but stick with me here. First though, we really have a lot of catching up to do.
Respect: Journalists exit Pentagon rather than agree to new reporting rules | AP News
Many of the reporters waited to leave together at a 4 p.m. deadline set by the Defense Department to get out of the building. As the hour approached, boxes of documents lined a Pentagon corridor and reporters carried chairs, a copying machine, books and old photos to the parking lot from suddenly abandoned workspaces. Shortly after 4, about 40 to 50 journalists left together after handing in badges.1
“President of Peace” Update. “Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela” - The New York Times
“President of Peace” Update II: “Special Operations helicopters fly within 100 miles of Venezuela” - The Washington Post
“President of Peace” Update III: “US strike on alleged drug boat off Venezuela kills six, Trump says”
“President of Peace” Update IV: Trump: Israel will resume fighting in Gaza ‘as soon as I say the word’
Make America White Again: “Trump Considers Overhaul of Refugee System That Would Favor White People” - The New York Times
Weaponizing the IRS: “Trump Team Plans IRS Overhaul to Enable Pursuit of Left-Leaning Groups” - WSJ
And…
Just another day when the President of the United States orders the prosecution of folks he doesn’t like. On Wednesday, Trump targeted former special counsel Jack Smith… and former DOJ prosecutor Andrew Weissmann:
“Deranged Jack Smith, in my opinion, is a criminal. His interviewer was Weissmann. I hope they’re going to look into [Andrew] Weissmann too. Weissmann’s a bad guy. And he had somebody, Lisa, who was his puppet, worked in the office really as the top person — and I think she should be looked at very strongly. There was tremendous criminal activity...They have committed massive political crime. I hope they’re looking at Shifty Schiff. I hope they’re looking at all these people.
“And I’m allowed to find out — I’m, in theory, the chief law enforcement officer.”
And we haven’t gotten to the really insane stuff yet….
Happy Thursday.
Note to readers: We all have a choice to make — and we’ve made the choice not to live on our knees.
I’m often asked what can we do? For starters, show up Saturday at a “No Kings” rally near you. (Find an event here.)
You can also support the independent voices that refuse to be silenced. As Benjamin Franklin reminded us, we need to hang together, or we will all hang separately.
So, join us. If not now, when?
JD Doubles Down On the “Kids”
Look, these are his people, and he has their backs.
Yesterday, we discussed the lengthy chats uncovered by Politico in which prominent Young Republicans praised Hitler, “referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.”
Most of the sentient universe condemned the squalid bigotry, but JD Vance rushed forward to defend the “kids” against what he called “pearl clutching.”
Yesterday, he doubled down on his support for the “kids.”
“Grow up!” Vance said on the “Charlie Kirk” show. “Focus on the real issues. Don’t focus on what kids say in group chats...
“The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys — they tell edgy, offensive jokes. That’s what kids do.”
Kids? I’m afraid not. Here are some of the “children” Vance is defending:
Reviewing public records and media reports, Mother Jones determined that eight of the 11 participants in the chat ranged in age from 24 to 35.
The oldest appears to be Joe Maligno, who public records suggest is 35. In the chat, he spoke about gas chambers and used a racial slur toward Chinese people. Maligno previously identified himself as general counsel for the New York State Young Republicans. Maligno did not respond to requests for comment from Politico. According to a Wednesday follow-up report from the outlet, he lost his job as an employee of the New York State Unified Court System.
Exit take:
Mike Johnson also doubles down…
…on his profoundly dumb (and dangerous) attacks on the “No Kings” rallies:
“We call it the Hate America Rally that will happen Saturday. Let’s see who shows up for that.
“I bet you you’ll see Hamas supporters, I bet you’ll see antifa types.
“I bet you’ll see Marxists on full display, people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”
The bullshit. It burns and bubbles. But words have consequences. As Andrew Egger noted:
These days… accusations like “terrorist wing,” “pro-Hamas,” and “Antifa” aren’t just insults. They’re talismans—phrases that unlock, in the view of the administration, a permission structure for the deployment of state violence.
The largest, most organized, peaceful protest movement of the Trump 2.0 Resistance is coming back this week—and Republicans are talking as if they’re prepared to unleash the might of their increasingly politicized federal law enforcement (and, perhaps, accompanying military?) on it.
Exit take: Shame the ass****s. Make Saturday’s rallies look like this:
THIS is the Most Insane Thing You Will Read…
You may have missed this bizarre story amidst the blizzard of bizarreries: “Forget the Epstein files! Trump-fav Anna Paulina Luna was just handed ‘report on JFK’s assassination’ — from the Russians!”
Trust me, this story is way crazier than you think. Dean Blundell has a summary of hat he (accurately) calls the “Best Russia/MAGA Psy-op Yet.”
Florida Congresswoman Ana Paulina Luna just did something that would have ended careers a decade ago: she publicly solicited documents from the Kremlin, received them from Russia’s ambassador, thanked Moscow on Twitter, and promised to publish whatever they handed her. No CIA vetting. No intelligence community review. Just a direct pipeline from Putin’s regime into the U.S. Congress….Luna announced she received a 350-page Soviet-era report on the JFK assassination directly from Russia’s ambassador to Washington. She called it “of massive historical significance” and promised translation and public release after “expert review.” Within hours, Kirill Dmitriev—Putin’s economic envoy who was investigated during the Mueller probe—amplified her statement as evidence of “productive U.S.-Russia dialogue.”
This should sound familiar. It’s exactly what happened in 2019 when Lev Parnas and Rudy Giuliani pushed Russian disinformation through congressional Republicans to attack Joe Biden. The difference now is they’re doing it openly. No backchannels. No coded language. Luna is thanking Moscow by name and treating sanctioned war criminals like legitimate diplomatic partners.
Luna may be a useful idiot, but most observers understand that the docs will be KGB disinformation. Here’s conservative activist Inez Stepman:
But, if we have learned anything, it is that there are elements of MAGA that will grab onto any conspiracy theory — no matter how bizarre — even if it comes from the sketchiest of sources.
Trust me, it will get dumber.
Today’s Podcast
Thursday dogs
Flashback: Pete living his best life.
Pentagon Press Association statement:
“Today, the Defense Department confiscated the badges of the Pentagon reporters from virtually every major media organization in America. It did this because reporters would not sign onto a new media policy over its implicit threat of criminalizing national security reporting and exposing those who sign it to potential prosecution.
“The Pentagon Press Association’s members are still committed to reporting on the U.S. military. But make no mistake, today, Oct. 15, 2025 is a dark day for press freedom that raises concerns about a weakening U.S. commitment to transparency in governance, to public accountability at the Pentagon and to free speech for all.”
There is so much in this post I can’t begin a cogent comment. I will go to the streets in honor of my brother Charlie who was shot down WWII over Germany. His sacrifice flies in the face of all this xxxx🇺🇸❤️
It is hard to believe that Republicans can get even more stupid as each day goes by. They are the ones that need to be locked up for the good of this country.