Hi friends!
After I talked a big game last week about now being able to tell when this newsletter would cut off in your inbox, I saw that it cut off in my boyfriend’s inbox barely two stories in.
So what the heck, let’s lean in. I’ve written what may be one of my longest newsletters to date. I flew too close to the sun and now I’m deciding to just soak in some rays. Anyway, keep reading to find a non-news related link I hid somewhere in this email and a pet photo at the end, to distract from the horrors.
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In all seriousness, I could have gone longer. It’s scary to think just how much people in power give us to unpack and the limitations we face in actually unpacking it. Like, what historical models do we have for fascist rhetoric around crime and punishment to compare Stephen Miller’s recent speech to? Why is it so easy to weaponize or genuinely misinterpret crime data? What are the racist origins of fatphobic comments that made headlines this week? And, as Dave raised in a recent video, how much of this is meant to distract us? (In ways that are far less charming than link scavenger hunts and pet pictures, I might add.)
I try to get into this as much as I can throughout this newsletter, so let’s dig in.
Why does the government shut down?
When Congress fails to pass the federal budget by the end of the fiscal year, the government shuts down. Fiscal Year 2025 ended on September 30, and Congress’s New Years Eve party did not go well. They failed to pass a federal budget.
Congress needing more time to pass a budget is nothing new. The federal fiscal year had the same start and end dates as the calendar year until the 1840s, when the fiscal year was pushed to have a July 1 start date. In the 1970s, the fiscal year start date was pushed back again to October 1.
Why hasn’t the budget passed? Republicans are refusing Democratic lawmakers’ demands to save health care subsidies, reverse Medicaid cuts and force the Trump administration to actually spend money as Congress appropriates it.
This video is part of Dave’s partnership with Free the Facts, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that empowers young Americans to learn and lead.
Miller in Memphis
I know this section is long. My “I spent two years working at a newsroom covering criminal justice” is showing, so please bear with me.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, told police officers in Memphis, “I see the guns and badges in this room. You are unleashed.” He also spoke of using federal resources to act “without mercy” and proudly described the federal crackdown on Memphis as “ruthless.”
Miller’s speech comes as federal and state law enforcement descend on Memphis through Trump’s so-called “Memphis Safe Task Force.” The Task Force plans to dedicate federal agents to “hypervigilant policing, aggressive prosecution” and “large-scale saturation” of law enforcement. Journalists have pointed out that this kind of overpolicing is both ineffective and harmful, especially to Black residents. Local activists are already mobilizing against the federal occupation.
The White House has misleadingly said Memphis is “suffering from tremendous levels of violent crime.” Although the homicide rate there is currently above pre-pandemic levels, it has fallen recently. Reported carjacking and motor vehicle theft is also falling more in Memphis than it is in many other U.S. cities.
Back to the Stephen Miller of it all: He’s a white nationalist who’s come under investigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center. He’s the architect of many of the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies, including family separation, with help from extremist hate groups. Rolling Stone reports that he’s also authored many executive orders.
Readers respond:
Dave you’re the best at telling us the worst
A point-by-point breakdown of Hegseth’s weird speech
War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that military members must meet “the highest male standard” for combat roles. This move is illegal. It will also likely result in less women in combat roles. Hegseth has previously voiced opposition to women in combat roles.
Hegseth also espoused transphobic rhetoric during his speech, which follows a ban on transgender troops. The ban is currently at the center of a federal court battle, in which Trump allies filed briefs further deriding trans people.
“Fat generals and admirals” also came under fire in Hegseth’s speech. He announced height and weight requirements for the armed forces. Academics who study fatphobia have noted its racist origins.
Another target for Hegseth: troops with beards. In the past, federal courts have found that service members have the right to keep their beards on religious grounds. Critics have also pointed out the racist impacts the beard ban will have, since many Black troops get medical shaving waivers.
What is a “medbed”?
A made-up medical device that cures all diseases and that QAnon believes the government has had access to for years.
Trump’s TruthSocial account Truthed a Social about it last week. In an apparently AI-generated video, the president promoting medbeds on a fake Fox News segment that never actually aired. The video has since been deleted.
As someone who loves both addressing my medical anxiety and bedtime, the lie of the medbed is alluring. But it’s just that: a lie. A 2024 KFF poll found that most Americans run into false medical information online. To avoid falling for it, experts recommend looking at reputable medical and scientific journals instead of any information that an internet search turns up, and discussing new medical information with your doctor.
Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday seven month vacation from your government job
Starting in March, many employees at the General Services Administration — which is in charge of acquiring and managing federal workspaces — left the agency amid programs encouraging them to resign or retire early. Other employees were let go. GSA then gave the employees an offer of reinstatement. In the meantime, they were paid. Those who took it will return to work on October 6. Enjoy your last weekend of funemployment, reinstated GSA employees.
GSA isn’t alone here. The IRS is rehiring workers, and so is the Labor Department and the National Parks Service.
Every week, after our not-so-little news recap, I turn things over to Dave for some analysis. Dave, take it away.
More than one person this week asked in the comment sections if we’re “cooked?”
That’s … a loaded question. And, if I may, it’s a very funny question to ask me, a guy who once pretended to be a dinosaur eating a house plant in a pandemic TikTok.
Today’s third @washingtonpost quarantine TikTok features Jurassic Park 🦕 vm.tiktok.com/ZMJQF3dLW/
— #Dave Jorgenson (#@davejorgenson)
9:34 PM • Nov 19, 2020
This is not to absolve myself of any responsibility to you all, who have come to trust LNI as a news source. I just want to acknowledge that I sometimes have my own imposter syndrome when asked these big questions. It reminds me a bit of Jon Stewart reminding Tucker Carlson that the show leading into The Daily Show was “puppets making prank phone calls.”
I’m not Jon Stewart (or JD Vance) but I am a guy who believes humor is the way to reach audiences who are otherwise completely exhausted or demoralized by the onslaught of news. Before I opine on the level of “cooked” we are, let’s take a trip down memory lane.
In Trump’s first administration, there was a ton of reporting on any given Tweet he posted. In retrospect, many of those Tweets were relatively harmless.
You can understand why some conservatives felt the coverage was exhaustive and unnecessary. As a result, some journalists have become wary of making a Trump mountain out of a Trump molehill (sorry for that visual).
The difference now is that Trump is taking far more drastic actions this time around that actually match his rhetoric. So are the people around him. As an example, many people (including me) cringed in 2017 when Trump appointed “Mad Dog” Mattis to Secretary of Defense. But Mattis ultimately resigned, denounced Trump and said he was a “threat to the Constitution.” This time around, Secretary Pete Hegseth, who sat on a couch at Fox News for years, is now encouraging a politicalized military in a room full of U.S. generals.
Then of course there’s Stephen Miller, who continues to rise in the ranks while encouraging law enforcement to become “unleashed” in Memphis. His actions are frightening to many Americans. Allow me to break the tension a bit by reminding you of the time he spray painted on more hair for a television appearance:
This is all to say that now is the most important time to stay informed. As your local and international journalist, I’m here to absorb all the incoming news and create funny videos summarizing it as best I can. And Chris will keep summarizing it far more eloquently in the newsletter.
Thanks, Dave.
If you made it to the end and you’ve been here for a while, you know the drill. This week’s hidden link was to a reading order for the 1996 X-Men franchise-wide event ‘Onslaught.’ That’s where I am right now in my big readthrough of X-Men comics and I am not particularly excited about it, lol! Should I just skip this era of X-Men and jump ahead to the Morrison run? Do you have thoughts? If you have no idea what I’m talking about, are you having fun anyway? Let me know.
And now for our pet picture! This is Pippin. I’m writing this newsletter from the patio of a coffee shop near me, and it looks like Pippin is also having patio time.
she’s just like me
Stay tuned Monday for the next edition of Dave’s newsletter. I’ll be back in your inbox next Thursday if you’re an LNI member and next Friday otherwise.
Until then!
Chris
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