Hi friends!
I’m back with a recap of the news Dave covered in the last week. A lot of you kept reading last week after this newsletter got clipped off in your inbox and responded to my plea at the bottom of the email: a call for pet pictures. Dave’s dog Lola was thrilled to meet all of her new virtual pen pals (I assume. I’ve never actually met her). Without further ado, here’s the pic I decided to spotlight.
Porsche and Porsche’s hat.
This is Porsche, and I love Porsche’s little hat. Many thanks to everyone who sent pictures in, especially Porsche’s human.
I loved all of your pet pictures equally and used an entirely unscientific rubric to pick which one to spotlight here. I thought I should go with a dog picture today to remain balanced, since I shared a cat picture in my Q&A with Dave from his Monday newsletter.
Speaking of Dave and me collaborating on things, stay tuned for a mini announcement at the end of this newsletter. My life’s work is now to make you keep reading after your inbox clips off my emails.
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I actually am doing my best to make sure this email doesn’t cut off in your inbox, so I’ll wrap this little intro up. It’s been a weird news week. People in power are saying that throwing a sandwich constitutes assault, and they’re advocating against ceasefires, and on top of all that I don’t know if I’ll see a Social Security check in this lifetime. Let’s dig in.
Is a hotdog assault weapon a sandwich?
South Park takes on Trump
Wednesday night’s episode of the animated sitcom showed troops in D.C. The episode aired nine days after Trump announced the deployment of National Guard troops to the city.
The episode also continued to show Trump in a romantic relationship with Satan and accepting over-the-top flattery from White House, which isn’t totally divorced from reality. (More on that later in this newsletter.) Vice President JD Vance, not to be confused with Dave, is portrayed as Trump’s servant.
This isn’t the first time South Park has parodied Trump. It’s been taking aim at the president throughout its 27th season, prompting criticism from the White House.
Your news format is the only way I can stomach hearing about politics. It’s the least painful.
And I can see Russia from my house
Trump, who had previously called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, changed his tune after meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
He, like Putin and unlike Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, now wants a permanent peace deal to end the war rather than an immediate ceasefire.
What’s the difference? A peace agreement would require long negotiations. A ceasefire would be immediate, and would pause fighting while Russia and Ukraine enter longer-term peace talks.
Sweet talking! At The White House
After the Alaska summit, Trump met with Zelenskyy and other European leaders this week.
Leaders from Germany, France and Britain all came with Zelenskyy to the White House. The New York Times reported that before the meeting, they agreed on a playbook.
It included flattering Trump, identifying where they already have common ground, avoiding big disagreements, and making an emotional appeal to the president by reading a letter from first lady Melania Trump about her concerns for Ukrainian children.
More on Social Security
Will we get Social Security checks when we retire? The program is facing some steep challenges. It’s part of a series Dave is doing with Free the Facts, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that empowers young Americans to learn and lead.
Almost 69 million more Americans are eligible for Social Security now than in 1940. Longer life expectancies today help fuel that rise.
Falling birth rates also mean fewer workers are paying into Social Security, so Social Security is sending out more money than it takes in.
I still don’t understand the six seven meme, and Skeleton Uncle Sam might become a recurring character.
Each week, after running through the videos Dave has made, I turn it over to him for some analysis. Dave, analyze!
If I could bring it back to sandwiches for a moment, I wanted to highlight journalism and the many forms it takes.
In the past couple of weeks, hundreds of D.C. residents have flooded social media with videos of ICE forcibly removing people from cars, injuring them and throwing them in unmarked vehicles. And, yes, there’s the video of someone throwing a sub sandwich at an ICE officer.
This is journalism. It’s important. If you’re looking for a literal example - Darnella Frazier won an honorary Pulitzer, deservedly so, for filming George Floyd’s murder.
I no longer live in D.C., but I feel a huge attachment to the city, having lived there for a decade. I love it very much and its people. So this is my appreciation for all those who are documenting fascism in real time. I hope you’ll keep doing so (safely, of course).
Oh hey, you made it down here again! Even though the newsletter probably got cut off in your inbox, again! We’re good on pet photos this week, but thank you!
As promised at the beginning, our mini-announcement is: I’m gonna be in a video with Dave tomorrow! It’ll be related to Local News International developing our style guide and based on a real interaction we had.
Dave and I have made some cameo appearances in each other’s videos over the last couple of years, but this is our first proper video that we’re producing together since we were both at The Washington Post. I’m very excited, and I hope you are too.
Until next week!
Chris
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