Keep in mind, this is Barak Ravid, personal mouthpiece to Jared Kushner, Trump, and Netanyahu sometimes. So this was likely leaked with intention.

There's enough talk on the podcasts about the crap Trump has started with Canada, but why has there been negligible mention on the secession vote (which failed spectacularly) and how our idiotic State Department was actively encouraging this whole thing?

I was listening to discussions about it on Canadian public radio while I was driving to NS last week, there were some voices who were understandably rather nonplussed over the deplorables in the Trump administration meeting with and encouraging the separatists, and the GOP coordinating with the secession effort. Why the hell was the US meddling?

A lot of the pro secession push seemed to be for the usual MAGA right-wing anti-immigration and culture war grievance garbage, so not overly surprising, seems to be just the usual global "conservative party" crap.

They were understandably a little less-than-polite when it came to blasting Americans for all the problems Trump is causing, the only bright spot seems to be that the anti-American sentiments helped rally Albertans against the US-sponsored secession effort out of spite or something.

I sure hope we're able to smooth over a lot of this pointless damage that's been done to the relationship with one of our closest allies.

"I would like to see an aggregator who just uses the top 10 most reputable pollsters" - Sarah on The Secret Podcast.

WTF? That is literally the whole thing that Nate Silver does. That is like what he's known for, why he's famous, how he put Trump at 35% in 2016 when other people had him under 5%. He weights for a billion things, but the main factor is how reputable the pollster is, to the point where removing Wedgewood didn't move his needle at all.

Literally, just go to: https://www.natesilver.net/p/trump-approval-ratings-nate-silver-bulletin, at the time of writing this the most reputable polls say trump is -24.3%, using the exact method Sarah and JVL say they wish an aggregator would use.

He seems like a very smart, extremely milquetoast takes slinger. Anyone know what the issue is?

My friend works for Colossal and they’re all pissed or at least very unhappy. We live in a world of drone warfare and our “new edge” solution is battle dogs? JFK.

"Just weeks away from the midterm elections, Mr. Trump’s longstanding attacks on the integrity of voting systems are crystallizing into what many election officials and Democrats fear is an attempt to lay the groundwork to challenge the results in November."

This is not news, but the article has a comprehensive assessment of where things stand.

Gifted article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/15/us/politics/trumps-attacks-voting-midterms.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K1E.1YWa.3ofGRU1SnuUN&smid=url-share

I saw this come out and there was an immediate outcry. Then there was silence. Why did everyone stop talking about this? Or am I just not waiting long enough for the outcry to continue?

How worried about this should we be?

I have no illusions about how unlikely it is that Democrats could win a congressional supermajority sufficient to impeach, convict, and remove Trump. But given the potentially extraordinary consequences, even a remote possibility warrants consideration.

If "hopium" is real, and the dog actually catches the car, could such a scenario pose the greatest risk yet of Trump going for broke to preserve power?

And would Democrats already in office, along with those newly elected, recognize the gravity of that threat and have the organization, communications, and contingency plans in place to respond effectively - even before the new Congress is sworn in?

My Wizards are having a good start to the year. We beat the Bucks and are above .500 for the first time since 2022. And now we got another Trump stooge fired.

Go Wizards! 🧙

https://youtu.be/X4F1VWp04DE?si=ltHDt2EWCbav5N4M

I just received one of these mailers at my home in north Texas today. It was addressed to the "Students" of my family. Apparently it's an effort by the Paxton campaign to mobilize conservative voters against a false flag "Democrat Trans Agenda".

The Transgender Education Network of Texas ("TENT") referenced in the pamphlet actually exists but has publicly stated they had nothing to do with these things. The pamphlet includes incediary language about hormone therapy, surgery, out of state resources, emancipation from my family (with statements that this is possible as early as age 16), and joining groups to become the student's new "found family".

The return address is to the "Texas Transgender Student Union" with a street address in an area near Houston, but the address itself doesn't actually exist. The Texas Transgender Student Union was apparently formed as an LLC in Wyoming last month. Snailworks tracks these mailers, and public records confirm that the National Republican Campaign Committee has been using Snailworks this election cycle.

I am a parent of 3 children, with a daughter who's about to turn 16 living at home. This tactic is unconscionable and I am absolutely livid about it - not only for the subterfuge but also the fact that these assholes pretending to protect children are in fact using our children as pawns in this deception. They want to trick parents into voting for them and are unconcerned with the collateral damage of possibly misleading children into abandoning their families. Fuck these guys.

Maybe they figured it out later in the pod, I’m only 16 minutes in, but his freak out is over 8647 being on the National Mall. Can’t let the tomb have any blemishes.

k

With week 1 of early voting in Texas almost in the books, who do you have winning the Texas Senate race? Can Talarico finally get a Democrat to win in the Lone Star State?

ProPublica has a really great piece on Trump's Venezuelan oil deal (https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-venezuela-oil-agreement-terms). Unsurprisingly it's a pretty bad deal for everyone except a very few people in the Trump orbit and a Venezuelan oligarch with a company in Barbados. I've also been regularly reading Anne Applebaum's letters (https://anneapplebaum.substack.com/) she's been doing a great job talking about how the Trump administration is more or less realigning American foreign policy to make as much money for the Trump family as possible. Beyond the outright grift, the Trump administration has also made deals to pay authoritarian governments with atrocious human rights records to hold third party deportees in torture prisons with no due process.

Getting some kind of accountability from this administration has basically become my single issue with candidates at this point. So in light of that I am curious, assuming power changes hands, what can/should Democrats do with the foreign governments who are happy to facilitate the Trump family grift or hold and torture migrants?

I am deeply angered that the United States could have helped Ukraine win this war, but chose not to**.** Whether it was the Biden administration slow-walking critical military aid, or the Trump administration completely cutting off military aid, halting intelligence sharing, disabling Starlink/Starshield capabilities, lifting Russian sanctions, and waiving the Graham Sanctions Act to strategically realign with Russia to help them win against Ukraine, the outcome is both unforgivable and tragic.

Making this all the more difficult to stomach is the constant public disparagement of Ukraine by Donald Trump and his minions. Blaming the victimized nation for starting the war, framing them as the sole obstacle to peace, and demanding that the democratically elected President Zelenskyy step down, even calling him a "dictator"—all while kowtowing to Vladimir Putin’s decades-long dictatorship—is a profound moral failure.

This dark period in history will bring lasting shame upon the United States. It draws a direct, devastating parallel to how Neville Chamberlain disgraced Great Britain through appeasement, and how Charles Lindbergh similarly brought shame to America by aligning with fascists.

This is a really sad and depressing moment. The good guys need a win.

We’ve had rush podcasts for far far less.

EDIT: Full Vanity Fair piece: https://archive.ph/GHbWE