Newsletter #10: WTAF is going on with Trump, Musk & Putin?

Canada Strikes Back | Emilia Pérez Review | Bored to Death | Guitar Riff Mix

Note: I created the lame image above after trying some AI-generated image search terms like “Musk, Trump, Putin, threesome.” I got some results that no one needs to see. Trust me.

WTAF is going on between Trump, Putin & Musk?

If you watch or (better for your sanity) simply monitor Fox and other MAGA media you know they’ve turned the concept of I’m just asking questions into art form designed to inject disgusting smears and crazy-ass conspiracy theories into what used to be known as the mainstream media.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

Someone on the fringes of the internet — often a neo-Nazi — posts something crazy, likely pulled out of their ass or maybe fed to them by countries or actors who used to be our enemies.

It then spreads through the Douche-O-Sphere until some young, male, former Country Club Republican at the Heritage Foundation or C-PAC now bucking to be a ladder-climbing MAGA Bro tips off a fellow dim-witted climber over at OAN or Newsmax.

That gets it on TV and talk radio and triggers a slightly older producer at Fox to call the bucks boss over at Heritage because they went to college together and got black-out drunk at the Halloween Party where they both went in black face.

From there the story is “confirmed” and meets the Fox journalistic gold standard for excellence, going first to former funny man — and perennial disappointment to his mother — Jesse Watters where it gets an airing of what people are talking about and some choice just asking questions to try to tie it to a larger fake conspiracy or ongoing character smear that fits the subject.

After that it’s on to the Fox Prime Time heavy hitters where they add another level of legitimacy and bring all their faux outrage gravitas to bear in the hopes of giving the story some legs or maybe even getting less partisan outlets to bite.

If that gold mine is struck producers and anchors alike can spend a couple days on cruise control. There’s at least a day of if the New York Times thinks it’s a legitimate story stories and then fights if the Democrat/liberal group in question or allies thereof decide to push back. If any even insignificant holes are found in that push back then it could then woven into a mother load conspiracy theory.

Add some shady American operatives like America’s Vampyre Rudy Giuliani to stir the pot and that’s basically the story line of everything Biden and Ukraine.

But, it’s not a rare thing. This Human Centipede media ecosystem plays out in ways Grande, Venti, and Trenta every day.

That’s not how the liberal media works across the board.

Let’s use MSNBC as the other side of the coin from Fox, even though it’s not.

Yes, they have liberal punditry but they still operate in a world of facts and not speculation. Rachel Maddow, for instance, had extensive and deep coverage of Russia after 2016. I watched almost every minute of it and it was well within the lines of journalistic ethics.

But since that was deemed fake — even though it wasn’t — and Trump won again, we’ve seen that kind of deep dive go by the wayside.

We need it back.

I don’t want liberal media using the same tactics as MAGA, but they need to stop being afraid to speculate and connect dots that I could have managed as a three-year-old on an old Howard Johnson’s place mat.

All this is a long preamble to say we need to get serious about getting to the bottom of the what the actual fuck is going on between Trump, Musk, and the other dark horse in this gag-reflex-inducing threesome.

Here’s a few of the commonly held scenarios that have been bandied about:

Musk’s $250 million (and GOTV organization) swung the election to Trump and he thinks he owes Elon.

Okay, that’s pretty low-hanging fruit and $291 million is a chunk of change that definitely helped. But, let’s dismiss the Get Out the Vote help out of hand, almost immediately. Before the election there was nothing but chaos stories on how inept Musk’s operation was. I never heard anything different afterwards and if it did make a tangible difference Musk would be touting it was a way to make coin on future elections.

As for the $291, yes, it was the single highest donation Trump got. But, it wasn’t in some MAGA metaverse where the rest came from change gathered from couch cracks. Look at the rest of his top donors:

Now let me ask. In everything you’ve seen and know about Trump do you think he would ever admit — even to himself — that Musk won him the election? Or any of his other plutocratic patrons?

No. He’s mentally incapable of that. He thinks Musk was one of many suckers who gave him cash because he’s the MAGA Messiah. It might have helped, but he is at the center of his universe and no one else but him could have won even with all the money in the world.

To be South Africa’s first American president, Musk rigged the voting machines and stole the election for Manchurian Idiot Trump.

I know some people on the left are adamant about this, but I don’t see it. I know what Trump said after the election and I know the group of experts who wanted a forensic audit of the election. I can respectfully get into that in comments if you’d like — but I think it falls way, way short.

The primary reason why I think Trump did win?

The lack of any calls of legit voting fraud by the three very strong Democratic Secretaries of State in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona. And a vigilant governor in Pennsylvania with a relatively sane Republican SOS.

Trump Bends the Knee — If That’s Physically Possible

But Trump’s erratic, completely contradictory actions with Musk go way beyond any gratitude — if he was even capable of it.

Soon after the election Musk basically few down to Mar-a-Lago and has been at Trumps side a’la Stuck on You ever since. Beyond, of course, Musk’s reglarly-scheduled jaunts to his volcanic lair somewhere in the Pacific on a ketamine run or a quick break to father another child in the Lincoln bedroom.

Remember, those who’s your daddy stories started almost immediately. And they were (and are) widespread.

Again, have you ever seen Trump allow for him to be portrayed as insubordinate to anyone ever before this? And being openly mocked?

Not a chance.

And it’s only gotten worse since then. The cabinet meeting with King Ketamine snorting praise from the disciples. An embarrassing Oval Office cattle call with SpaceX Elroy mumbling shit at grandpa. The exploding car show hype session in the White House driveway. The threats to do everything short of deploying Navy Seals to protect Tesla dealerships from the snowflakes.

It’s a stunning capitulation when you think about it and it’s all dragging down Trumps poll numbers.

As is the very real DOGE wrecking ball that Trump really cares little about as a matter of policy. At best he wanted to pay back the 2025 nut jobs, but never enough to get this kind of extended and sustained bad coverage that’s even leaking into the MAGA-media bubble.

All of this goes against everything we know about Trump — a man so predictable in his egomaniacal depravity that you could set you clock to his Freudian response to even the smallest slight by an enemy or shift away from the spotlight by an ally.

So, what is it?

I guess you could make a legitimate argument that Trump is hell bent on Dictatorship and Musk is a willing ally. Or that Musk wants to suck even harder at the government udder via billions more in contracts. That’s obviously true and happening as we speak. And why not be the maniacal power behind the throne.

But, I think we might all be scared to connect those paper placemat dots that reveal the shirtless KGB guy on a horse who is actually controlling the big picture. Is it really that far-fetched to believe that Trump is both Putin and Musk’s bitch?

I honestly don’t think so.

I mean, there were multiple and credible reports before Musk went in balls deep on Trump that Elon and Putin were regularly talking. If you subscribe to the long-held belief by many that Putin has something — and it must be a big something — on Trump why wouldn’t he want a trusted man on the inside making sure his work is being done while Trump’s Cabinet of Dr. Caligari gets paid off with side-hustle grift.

And let me be clear here: The work of Putin is destroying this country from within.

That was the Soviet Union’s goal and it only skipped a beat before Putin brought it right back to the top. And he’s been working it for years within the Republican party even before he got a stooge like Trump. Look up the NRA and Russia and read highly-sourced articles documenting the whole thing.

I know these things sound crazy, impossible, or both. But the science about icebergs is true. Upwards of 90% is hidden under water. And look at the 10% that we do see above the surface. Doesn’t something like that seem possible, if not probable?

One thing different about Trump 2.0 is the whole regime is filled with crazy/evil true believers. And we’re not seeing the infighting and an open line to Maggie Haberman to leak and shit on each other like we did before.

Maybe it’s all just run of the mill soulless depravity and revenge.

But, maybe it’s more.

Because every single thing happening both in foreign policy and domestically is exactly what Putin wants. And given that Putin wants this country destroyed, isn’t that worth digging into?

From Trump down this entire administration sounds like actual Putin puppets — spewing his lies in English. We’re not appeasing Putin, we’re actively supporting and helping him in literally every way possible.

More real journalists and pundits should be digging deep and connecting dots. And we all should be talking about it more.

After all, the stakes here are pretty damn high.

BTW, my last Trump/Putting article had some pretty good background if you’re not too familiar with the sad subject. You can read it here.

Oh, Canada!

My mother is from Canada and we live just across the river from our northern neighbors. I love Canada with all my heart and have found Trump’s 51^st state bullshit utterly disgusting. But, because everything Trump touches dies opposition to Trump in Canada seems to have totally changed the political landscape there.

Just weeks ago, Prime Minister Trudeau’s unpopularity looked like it might sink the whole Liberal Party in upcoming elections. But, Trudeau stepped down, Mark Carney won the party leadership race for PM, and the Liberals look to have totally revered their fortunes in upcoming snap parliamentary elections.

Mike Meyers joined the new PM for a TV spot promoting the Liberals. It’s fun. Oddly, I could only find the spot on PM Carney’s BlueSky page.

Enjoy and Thanks Trump!

Reader Poll: To Email or Not to Email

As you know, I’ve been trying to be really respectful of people’s inboxes. We all get too much spam and junk. Save a few exceptions, I only send out one newsletter email per week.

That said, I also add articles to the publication that never make the newsletter and I see a number of Substacks that I subscribe to that promote getting every post delivered to subscribers.

I’m not going to change anything anytime soon, but I wanted to know how people feel about the potential of more than one email. I wouldn’t be sending them willy-nilly, maybe just saving additional emails for something special or breaking news.

I’ll probably run this poll again to gauge interest, but I’d love to get your thoughts.

Parting Political Thoughts: The Shotgun Approach & Staying Positive!

There’s no “Magic Bullet” to defeat Trump and MAGA. There’s too many crimes and too much corruption to choose from. We need to attack from different directions, hitting them all.

Think of it as a “Shotgun” approach — with each and every one of us a buckshot pellets, each hitting different vital targets but working as a whole to bring down the monster.

Lastly. Schumer and the CR cave in the senate last week was deeply disappointing. There’s no denying that. But, look at the Sanders/AOC rallies. The Town Halls in deep red districts. The Tesla demonstrations and others on specific issues. The anti-MAGA 2.0 movement is growing stronger every day.

Take heart that the majority of Americans are not down with this program and that is only going to grow!

Culture Club: The Big Easy | Emilia Pérez Review | Bored & Loud

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?

We had a great five days in New Orleans. It was Amy and my first trip there in a number of years and Madison’s first trip ever. She was hooked, and is pondering it as a place to live after grad school at Loyola Chicago is finished.

In the last couple of years, we’ve been to Charleston twice and Savannah once. I was starting to think that Charleston might top The Big Easy.

I’m happy to put that stupid notion aside. There’s something totally unique about New Orleans and the diversity of its neighborhoods. I was happy that I continued to expand our exploration beyond the French Quarter, this time checking off more Marigny, Bywater, Treme, and the Lower Garden District neighborhoods.

I think I have enough knowledge accumulated to do my own “guide” to the city if I can find the time to write it. You’ll know when I do!

REVIEW: Emilia Pérez
Sometimes the Oscar hype is wrong. This is one of those times.

Let me honest right off the bat: I’m not a big fan of musicals.

I don’t hate them. The ones I do like are the usual suspects, but most of those don’t feature song as dialogue because I like that even less. If you’re into that kind of thing, more power to ya. But, it just doesn’t work for me.

I went into writer/director Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez with some trepidation because it’s a musical, but open to liking it given the critical acclaim it achieved and clips I saw at the Oscars that made it look like it broke some norms and had a unique style.

On the positive side, Emilia Pérez has a really interesting story at its heart. A Mexican drug king-pin (Karla Sofía Gascón) wants to transition to a woman and enlists a struggling attorney (Zoe Saldaña) to travel the world and spare no expense to make it happen. I’ll leave the overview at that and not spoil what transpires, but like I said, it’s a unique concept.

But, it just doesn’t work as a musical. In fact, I kept wondering throughout why it’s even a musical.

The music is pretty much across-the-board boring. There’s not a single song that has much of a hook or a hell of a lot to say. And the singing performances span the spectrum from just okay to terrible. Even Selena Gomez (who is a good singer) sounds like she’s trying to suppress her talent. I think all the mediocre singing was purposeful, meant to have everyday people breaking into song seem realistic. And yes, at times, that includes singing dialogue, but mainly insignificant dialogue which makes for terrible songs.

There are a few set pieces that are visually and musically interesting, but they’re few and far between. In fact, the last third of the movie has virtually no songs which again begs the question why is this a musical?

The performances are all fine, but nothing really to write home about. Saldaña is good but nowhere near Best Supporting Actress good, in my opinion.

Maybe it was the subject matter in these anti-trans times that boosted the film. Shinning a sympathetic light on that subject is great, but that doesn’t mean I have to love the film. And I just didn’t. I’m sure my indifference to musicals didn’t help matters, but I really don’t think that prejudiced my view. It’s just really not that good.

If you’re into musicals I’d love to hear your opinions. If you’re not, I doubt this will change your mind on them.

One For the Road: SNL 50

Well, this week brings me to 50 sketches in honor of SNL’s 50^th anniversary.

For 10 weeks I’ve been adding pretty random examples mixed with a few personal favorites. I’m going to put the series on hold for the time being — although I’ll probably bring it back on occasion.

You can find the final five (for now) here.

Show Binge: Bored to Death

I can’t think of a better description of Bored to Death than the “slapstick noire” quote from the trailer.

Running for three seasons (2009-2011) it stars Jason Schwartzman as a struggling detective novelist who decides that his knowledge of the genre qualify him to pick up some work as an unlicensed Private Dick. Channeling a bit of a grown-up Max Fischer (Rushmore) he’s joined by his best friend and comic book author Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson as a magazine editor and marijuana enthusiast.

After establishing the premise in the pilot, the series becomes a quirky procedural, with each episode revolving around another mystery and a who’s who of Indy film and TV guest stars while also slowly expanding the universe of the lead characters.

While Bored to Death had decent ratings in its HBO slot after Curb Your Enthusiasm it was cancelled after 24 episodes. There was talk of a follow-up film, but that fell apart. It’s a shame because the series was a unique blend of offbeat humor and heart that’s totally worth binging.

For me, it also marked Ted Danson’s rise as a National Treasure, which is fully on display in his latest series A Man on the Inside. If you missed it you can read my recent review here.

Tuesday Music Mix: That Guitar

Even with occasional purges I have far too many mix tape style Spotify playlists. While the app doesn’t allow you to see the exact number, scrolling through them makes me think there are hundreds — if not pushing a thousand.

Sometimes a single song makes me think of a playlist idea. In this case it was distinctive guitar lines, likely inspired by Jack White who is a modern master of the guitar riff and The Edge who has his fair share too. There’s also a number of Zeppelin songs, so I may have been channeling the White/Edge/Page documentary It Might Get Loud which is well worth a watch. Here’s the trailer for that. It’s streaming as a rental on a number of platforms.

Not sure what’s been happening, but a few weeks ago I was on a giant tear of new subscribers. They started jumping to 20, 30, 60+ a day. Based on what I’ver read that’s usual when you get around 1K, and the norm from there is higher and steadier numbers.

The exact opposite happened and I’m down to, like, five or less a day. Not sure what that’s all about, but I’ll keep plugging away.

But, if you don’t mind, please hit the SHARE button below — you never know what moves the algorithm!