Newsletter 5: Constitutional Crisis? What Constitutional Crisis?

Grift & Crime | SNL 50 Round-Up | The Beatles Debut | Neko Case

The sad theme of this week’s political news has been how (on multiple fronts) things are worse than I thought they would be under Trump. Nothing jumped out at me this week as much as the blatant corruption and illegality we’re seeing happen right in front of our eyes. A couple (of the many) cases in point:

A Team of Grifters

Everyone on the left knew full well that Trumps cabinet was going to be terrible. But it’s so much worse. RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard were both confirmed this week and equally awful Kash Patel being the only major-league deplorable left.

Any number of Republican Senators know damn well that these three are not only completely unqualified but really dangerous picks. But it doesn’t stop there. People throughout Trump’s regime are completely unfit, crooked, or both. The frightening fact is that they will all be completely obedient to Trump. That’s because most are weak, but Trump is also giving them all a crooked incentive (or payoff) to lie, steal, and cheat for Trump by letting them in on the action.

How else can you explain Trump’s decision to purge the Inspector Generals in all the cabinet departments — the people who actually look for waste and corruption in each. These IGs were in many cases appointees from Trump 1.0. They must have had some level of competence and dignity because Biden kept them on. But, Trump 2.0 is much more blatant, so he canned them and will surely replace them with pure stooges. If he replaces them at all.

You only need to look to Elon Musk who is getting millions in new government contracts to see what’s coming. None of this has to be spoken, but all these unqualified people know damn well that the green light is on for them all to get their beaks wet and join the grift. Trump’s government is going to function much like a mob crime family. Bet on it.

Think I’m overreacting? Trump is also going to maim or outright kill the law that keeps US officials from being bribed by foreign officials. I mean, how clear can it be? There’s no plausible explanation for doing something like this. It’s all going to be massive corruption right out in the open. It’s disgusting.

The Demise of the Rule of Law?

Equally disgusting (and potentially lethally dangerous to our Democracy) are Trumps run-ins with the law in the last few weeks. He’s getting slammed by judges of all political persuasion on many of the obviously illegal actions he’s been taking — everything from firing employees to freezing funds allocated by Congress and killing organizations also created by law, by Congress.

Many left-leaning pundits have applauded these judges, and I do too. I mean, we have to try to stop him. But, what I think many are missing is that these lawsuits were obviously expected by the Project 2025 brain trust. Do you think they are just going to pack up their bags and head home when any court tries to stop them?

I think we’re being naïve to think that this isn’t part of the plan, and everyone from Trump to Musk to Vance are paving the way for the Executive Branch to simply ignore the Judicial Branch.

If we go there, it’s a whole new ballgame. I wrote an essay about that possibility that you can read here. It’s a deeply disturbing exercise in what might very well happen. Maybe have some Tums or the heartburn relief brand of your choice handy when you do.

RIP American Global Leadership

After the tragic news last week on the Palestinians it’s coming more into view as to what Trump is going to do about Ukraine. It’s no surprise that he’s going to fuck them over. But, as with Gaza, it looks like it’s going to be even worse than most people imagined. He implied last week that Ukraine might not be part of the sham peace negotiations with Russia. That’s hard to imagine, but then again, since he’s going to basically give Russia whatever Putin wants, I guess it doesn’t matter.

As with so many issues with Trump, when you think about what Russia would want, every piece falls into place.

Europe is understandably (and collectively) freaked out. And while I’m deeply pessimistic on so many issues, part of me thinks Ukraine might have a chance here. I hope they boycott the “negotiations” and Europe and other countries across the globe step up to fill the void left by America’s tragic capitulation.

Dem•ocracy Project

Okay, something kinda positive.

For me, one of the most important reasons I started FAM was to try to do something (in my own small way) to help get us out of our dire political situation. What I came up with is a series of essays that I hope contain some insight into what I think we can do to overcome the MAGA movement.

I’ve been working on this in bits and pieces since late last year and as it stands now it’s ultimately going to be 12 essays covering where we are now, what we need to do in 2026, and ultimately in 2028.

I doubt I’ll put the essays in the newsletter, but just give an overview and links to them. If you want to see how I’m mapping it all out, you can read a primer here.

Culture Club: SNL 50 | The Beatles + AI | Neko Case Mix

My relationship with Saturday Night Live goes back to just about the beginning. I was only six when the show debuted in 1975 and I don’t remember watching it in that first year, but somehow, I got my hands on the 8-track shown above a year or so later. I listened to it non-stop and there’s a pretty good chance I was often wearing one of my many velour shirts and my Darth Vader necklace. And maybe even my corduroys. I had lots of those too.

I started watching in earnest when Eddie Murphy blew up and nearly everyone my age was obsessed with him. I even remember time recording it on our VCR. There’s been ups and downs over the years, but I’ve always stuck with it and it’s quite a cultural touchstone in my life as I’m sure it is with tons of people.

We don’t have Peacock, but my daughter does, and when I was visiting her in Chicago last week I binged all the SNL docs they’ve released building up to the SNL 50 show tonight.

There’s the Questlove music one I tried to share a clip from, a doc on the writers over the years, and even a full-length doc on the Will Ferrell Cowbell sketch. They’re all really well done. If you have Peacock, check them out. I think I’m a pretty devout student of the show and I learned lots of things I didn’t know.

MINI-REVIEW: Saturday Night

This week I also watched the recent Jason Reitman movie Saturday Night which documents the hours leading up to the very first show. I have to say, it’s really quite good. I had read that they play a little loose with the facts, but it was so well done that it didn’t bother me. It’s a giant cast of both relative unknowns and some familiar faces playing some famous people and everyone is outstanding with performances that never fall into mere impression.

Gabriel LaBelle plays Lorne Michaels who is obviously the focus as he tries to wrangle his cast and crew to launch a show that NBC probably isn’t even going to put on when 11:30 hits. Reitman builds the tension as Michaels weaves his way through the floors, hallways, offices and dressing rooms trying to keep things together while trying to hold back a nervous breakdown.

Through the chaos he also manages to give most of the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players all a bit of a story arch. The whole thing is both dizzying and highly entertaining. I was particularly impressed with the editing and the music by Jon Baptiste — who also plays the shows first musical guest Billy Preston. It really is one of the most enjoyable films I’ve seen in a while. Check it out on Netflix.

I made a point to add the famous Cowbell sketch to this week’s five SNL sketches collection. You can check them out here.

The Beatles Win a 2025 Grammy

I really enjoyed the Grammy’s last week and was not at all surprised that Cowboy Carter got best album. It’s a bold, great album, and I was glad just for the fuck you to the elite in country music who snubbed it at the CMAs.

The show itself has improved over the last few years as they have amped up the number of performances. I do like that, but wish they would feature a few more actual awards, even if they just announce list of some of the other winners.

One of those winners for Best Rock Performance was The Beatles with Now and Then. The song itself and the win were both a little controversial given the technology used to make new music with only two members of the band still with us. Being the Beatles fan I am, I thought about it quite a bit when the song was released last year. It also brought up larger issues of remastering, remixing, and the use of AI in music. It’s a nice little essay (if I don’t say so myself) that you can read here.

This Tornado Loves You

I went to Chicago last week because my daughter Madison — who goes by her middle name Kate in the Windy City — got me tickets for Christmas to see Neko Case talking about her new memoire The Harder I Fight the More I Love You at the Studebaker Theater.

I haven’t read the book yet but the conversation with a Chicago music journalist was equal parts touching and entertaining which I’m sure I have in store. And fantastic news that she has both a Thelma & Louise Broadway adaptation in development and a new album on the way this fall!

Of course, that got me on a Neko music kick for this week’s Spotify mix. If you’re not familiar with Neko, you’re in for a treat. She has a fantastic and unique voice and an alt country sound that sometimes feels like it’s filtered through Twin Peaks. Enjoy and see you next week!

Fun Fact: Back when I first got into Neko Case I was churning out screenplays like it was going out of style. Her music inspired me to try my hand a faux biography called Defining Grace which imagined a “lost” artist with her voice and lyrical prowess in the south in the early 60s. Actually the first thing I ever wrote that made me cry. There’s a little more of an overview and mood board of that here.

Footnote: The title of this week’s newsletter — Constitutional Crisis? What Constitutional Crisis? — is a play on the name of a Supertramp album. Nobody probably got it, but it made me smile. Also, check in on the site on occasion. I’m always adding new content when I can that doesn’t make the newsletter. One of those things is Monday Music where I embed a full album that I’ve recently listened to. Last week it was Supertramp’s Breakfast in America which is why they were probably on my mind. You can listen to it here.