<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[ Are you f'ng kidding me?]]></title><description><![CDATA[It’s me… JoJoFromJerz from Twitter!!]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!VfFW!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3800860-bfca-4252-a12e-57b41ab60dff_500x500.png</url><title> Are you f&apos;ng kidding me?</title><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 04:15:50 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[jojofromjerz@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[jojofromjerz@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[jojofromjerz@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[jojofromjerz@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Goodbye, You Poisonous Fucking Fraud]]></title><description><![CDATA[Karoline Leavitt Is Leaving, but There Isn&#8217;t Enough Febreze on Earth for This Rebrand.]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/goodbye-you-poisonous-fucking-fraud</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/goodbye-you-poisonous-fucking-fraud</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 03:06:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png" width="630" height="354" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!smUW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F666d3af6-2ff9-42fd-ad25-f3aae2ed45fc_630x354.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Karoline Leavitt, that evil lying bitch, is leaving the White House.</span></p><p><span>Good.</span></p><p><span>The most repulsively mendacious, soul-insolvent Trump-era skank ever to plant herself behind that podium, open the festering sewage aperture of her foul mouth, and disgorge lies, conspiracies, calumnies, contempt, and taxpayer-funded bullshit at the American press is finally slithering out the fucking door.</span></p><p><span>Of course she is.</span></p><p><span>She can smell the rot on herself now.</span></p><p><span>She can feel the accumulated filth of everything she knowingly, gleefully, shamelessly defended calcifying around her name, and suddenly the woman who never met a Trump lie she wouldn&#8217;t lacquer, powder, polish, and parade has discovered the exquisite appeal of the emergency exit.</span></p><p><span>Too fucking late.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg" width="1456" height="970" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ae8l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff5dd2a07-4c3d-4888-9151-47fefeb16b66_2000x1333.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>That bleached-blonde bunker-barker, crucigerous concubine of cruelty, cold-blooded battery-acid Barbie wasn&#8217;t dragged kicking and screaming into that briefing room. She wasn&#8217;t some trembling civil servant held hostage beneath fluorescent lights, reluctantly reciting words somebody shoved into her hands while silently praying for deliverance.</span></p><p><span>She fucking wanted it.</span></p><p><span>She wanted the podium. She wanted the cameras. She wanted the proximity to power. She wanted the access, attention, applause, and reflected importance that came from being Donald J. Trump&#8217;s porcelain emissary and polished political apparatchik.</span></p><p><span>She auditioned for that privilege, and once she got it, she performed with the ravenous enthusiasm of a bankrupt of character who discovered depravity came with a government salary, a glam squad, and excellent fucking lighting.</span></p><p><span>She did it eagerly.</span></p><p><span>She did it happily.</span></p><p><span>She did it proudly.</span></p><p><span>She stood behind the seal of the White House wearing her little cross around her neck and became the glossy public mouth of an administration marinating in brutality, corruption, retribution, greed, deceit, autocracy, and spiritual putrefaction.</span></p><p><span>She didn&#8217;t brief so much as infect, flicking that forked tongue across every steaming mound of bile that sloughed off Donald Trump and buffing, burnishing, bleaching, and bullshitting it into something she hoped Americans would swallow, transforming lying into liturgy, degradation into doctrine, indecency into catechism, until the grotesque sounded governmental simply because she said it beneath chandeliers with a seal behind her.</span></p><p><span>She became an apologist for depravity, an acolyte of authoritarianism, a servile little lickspittle for sin, a lacquered lackey for a sexual reprobate whose appetites, abuses, lies, and grotesqueries were already smeared across decades of public history, and she fucking knew exactly who she was protecting. Goddamn right she knew.</span></p><p><span>She knew about the tape where Trump bragged, with the swaggering entitlement of someone who believed celebrity placed women&#8217;s bodies at his disposal, that he could grab them by the pussy. She knew women had accused him of sexual misconduct. She knew a jury listened to E. Jean Carroll and found him liable for sexual abuse. She knew the judge later explained that the conduct established by that verdict fit the ordinary modern understanding of rape.</span></p><p><span>She knew every ugly fucking inch of the public record, and still she took the immense borrowed authority of the White House and made herself his official voice, his defender, his attack dog, his pretty little praetorian guard with a press credential.</span></p><p><span>That wasn&#8217;t ignorance.</span></p><p><span>That was volition.</span></p><p><span>That was allegiance.</span></p><p><span>That was moral agency exercised in service of someone else&#8217;s impunity.</span></p><p><span>And she knew exactly who she was protecting when the Epstein files became impossible to fucking outrun.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg" width="520" height="391" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!k-UG!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fea2fd50e-d34b-4de5-b795-dbb1e0839b48_520x391.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>She knew Trump&#8217;s name was in that universe of documents, testimony, photographs, contacts, correspondence, flight records, allegations, and decades of questions. She knew his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein had been public knowledge for years. She knew Americans were looking at that sprawling, squalid archive of money, minors, powerful men, hidden records, sealed testimony, missing answers, and institutional cowardice and asking one extraordinarily simple fucking question:</span></p><p><span>What are you hiding?</span></p><p><span>And Karoline Leavitt&#8217;s answer was not transparency.</span></p><p><span>It was obfuscation.</span></p><p><span>Obfuscate, obscure, deflect, deny, denigrate, distract. Bury the question under process. Attack the person asking it. Change the subject. Blame the media. Shriek about Democrats. Manufacture another outrage. Throw another fistful of rhetorical pocket sand into America&#8217;s eyes and hope nobody notices that the woman speaking for the president is working awfully fucking hard to make people stop looking at files containing the name of the depraved fuck she is paid to protect.</span></p><p><span>She knew.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s what makes her role so fucking repellent.</span></p><p><span>She wasn&#8217;t confused, uninformed, or discovering Jeffrey Epstein alongside the rest of the country with one hand clutched dramatically to her pearls. She was running interference for Donald fucking Trump, fully cognizant of the questions, the associations, the stakes, and the public demand for answers, and rather than plant herself before America and say open the vault, unseal the records, release every fucking thing, she helped construct the fog bank around him, a suffocating miasma of evasion, equivocation, indignation, diversion, and weaponized swill designed to exhaust the public before the public could exhaust the questions.</span></p><p><span>That was her choice.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg" width="1200" height="800" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:110419,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/211124789?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!u3m1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a316089-1b1c-45fd-a224-148a2d49c73e_1200x800.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>She looked at one of the most radioactive scandals in modern American life and decided her place in it would be on the sanitation crew, scouring, whitewashing, disinfecting, sanitizing, standing there with her little cross and her big government microphone trying to smother the reek beneath institutional incense while everybody else screamed that something fucking dead was underneath it.</span></p><p><span>And she knew exactly whose stink she was trying to cover.</span></p><p><span>You poisonous fucking fraud.</span></p><p><span>You knew. You always fucking knew. And you chose him anyway.</span></p><p><span>And as a mother, I find you especially fucking shameful.</span></p><p><span>Motherhood does not magically confer morality upon women. You are living proof of that. But having children teaches you something elemental about vulnerability, something that settles beneath language and somewhere in the marrow, because you understand how utterly small human beings depend upon adults to tell the truth, recognize danger, establish boundaries, believe them when something is wrong, and protect them from people powerful enough to hurt them.</span></p><p><span>You know what vulnerability looks like.</span></p><p><span>You chose power anyway.</span></p><p><span>People are already speculating that maybe you were fired.</span></p><p><span>Bullshit.</span></p><p><span>Or maybe you finally got pissed off when Trump left your ass sitting on the drone-bait plane while he scuttled through Turkey in a food-services truck with his Flowers-in-the-Attic fluffer Natalie Harp.</span></p><p><span>Bullshit.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg" width="1200" height="1200" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DYXX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F81917147-acdc-446d-b286-bcb65f9959f6_1200x1200.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Please stop trying to retrofit normal human emotions onto a woman who has devoted years to demonstrating their complete fucking absence.</span></p><p><span>You are a morally necrotic revenant, an ethically eviscerated little opportunist with the moral architecture of a tapeworm. You do not give a solitary shit that Donald Trump left you sitting on a decoy aircraft. You don&#8217;t care that he humiliates people, discards people, degrades people, or feeds them into the wood chipper of his own self-preservation. You have watched him do precisely that to human being after human being and readily volunteered to hold the fucking extension cord.</span></p><p><span>You aren&#8217;t leaving because Donald Trump finally offended your delicate sensibilities.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;re leaving because you can fucking count.</span></p><p><span>You know there is only so much runway between being the sneering federally funded mouthpiece for a fat, fetid fascist and trying to come out the other end as a freshly Febrezed Fox News personality whose entire past has been professionally dry-cleaned of the odor.</span></p><p><span>That clock is ticking.</span></p><p><span>You have watched this fucking magic trick before.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg" width="680" height="453" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!29-u!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc32436af-6d17-43a0-b73b-d1c018a9e86d_680x453.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Kellyanne Conway escaped the blast radius and became a contributor. Kayleigh McEnany spent years powdering Trump&#8217;s ass from behind a White House podium and somehow emerged on Fox as a cable-news fixture instead of being permanently introduced as FORMER PRESIDENTIAL PROPAGANDIST in flashing red letters beneath her face.</span></p><p><span>You want the same baptism.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s the game.</span></p><p><span>Get out while there&#8217;s still enough asphalt between you and the flaming wreckage to pretend you were merely a passenger. Put some chronological distance between yourself and the funk. Trade the lectern for a television desk. Swap government-issued bullshit for commercially sponsored horseshit. Replace the White House seal with a chyron. Get a softer filter, write something maudlin about family and faith, and wait for America&#8217;s notoriously short fucking memory to perform the pardon your conscience never could.</span></p><p><span>You aren&#8217;t fleeing Donald Trump.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;re fumigating your fucking r&#233;sum&#233;.</span></p><p><span>You smell what&#8217;s coming.</span></p><p><span>You just think you can outrun it.</span></p><p><span>Fuck that.</span></p><p><span>You aren&#8217;t even fucking original.</span></p><p><span>History is littered with women like you, a whole genealogy of vipers who hired out their fangs to monstrous men and billed it as duty.</span></p><p><span>Leni Riefenstahl aimed her lenses at the Third Reich and made fascism look like ballet, lit Nuremberg like a cathedral, gave genocide a gorgeous opening sequence, then spent the next six decades hissing her innocence at every documentary crew that would listen, and died at 101 with the swastika still watermarked on every frame she ever shot.</span></p><p><span>Magda Goebbels rented her photogenic family to that same regime as its living advertisement, the newsreel wife, the spotless children, and when it collapsed she fed those children cyanide rather than let them wake in a world Hitler no longer ruled.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg" width="612" height="480" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:480,&quot;width&quot;:612,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:61665,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/211124789?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0Njq!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6885d165-ea6a-4e34-a56f-e446c1a327a9_612x480.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Jiang Qing turned the Cultural Revolution into musical theater, scripting model operas while a million people bled out in the cheap seats, and when the tribunal finally came for her she reared up, hood flared, and spat that she had only ever been Mao&#8217;s dog, set loose on whomever he pointed her at.</span></p><p><span>None of them outran it. Not the auteur, not the &#8220;mother of the year&#8221;, not the leading lady. The verdict arrived anyway, late, sometimes decades late, but it fucking arrived, and it stayed.</span></p><p><span>And yours will too.</span></p><p><span>You were never standing helplessly beside the machinery. You were the fucking loudspeaker bolted to it, packaging the decay, gilding the venality, varnishing the viciousness, commercializing the con, marketing the malevolence, and making indecency sound official, dishonesty sound authoritative, vengeance sound patriotic, and rank civic sewage sound like governance.</span></p><p><span>And the record is indelible.</span></p><p><span>So leave.</span></p><p><span>Pack up the crosses and canned talking points. Strip the photographs from the desk. Gather your White House tchotchkes, close the office door, and commence whatever immaculate little reputational exorcism awaits on the other side of the gates.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg" width="1456" height="1456" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/aada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1456,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:806410,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/211124789?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ES19!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faada448c-2cf1-473e-bcb3-d7f154b87742_1592x1592.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>You do not get absolution with a forwarding address.</span></p><p><span>You can leave the podium. You can leave the building. You can leave Washington. You can change titles, networks, jobs, hairstyles, biographies, fucking continents. You can molt entirely, shed this skin on the way out, glide away glistening, and wait for the new scales to grow in a friendlier pattern.</span></p><p><span>You cannot change what you did.</span></p><p><span>The animal underneath stays the animal underneath.</span></p><p><span>The cameras were rolling. The transcripts exist. The footage remains. Every smirk, every slander, every deflection, every duplicitous little morsel you spoon-fed the public, every moment you decided closeness to power deserved more loyalty than truth deserved courage has been preserved.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s the occupational hazard of spraying air freshener over decomposition.</span></p><p><span>Eventually the fucking stench belongs to you.</span></p><p><span>No television contract will cleanse it. No gauzy motherhood profile will erase it. No resurrection tour through conservative media will sever you from the gargantuan slag heap of ethical offal you appointed yourself to speak for.</span></p><p><span>Run cover for predators and their filth becomes your perfume. Polish the reputations of scoundrels and the residue remains beneath your fingernails. Spend your career as a smiling votary of vice and sooner or later history stops distinguishing between the shit and the person who kept fucking shoveling it.</span></p><p><span>You can run as far from that briefing room as your legs will carry you, Karoline, but the stench of what you so zealously championed will cling to your name long after the studio lights go dark.</span></p><p><span>For eternity.</span></p><p><span>But at least American taxpayers won&#8217;t be footing the bill anymore for you to serve as a publicly funded fluffer for a convicted felon, adjudicated sexual abuser, business-fraud bullshitter, pussy-grabbing predator, and serially sleazy sack of shit.</span></p><p><span>So at least there&#8217;s fucking that.</span></p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;5c86fa08-915f-413d-800a-c5a1549afeae&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-nxz1DuVaRr8" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;nxz1DuVaRr8&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/nxz1DuVaRr8?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p><span>I love you guys!</span></p><p><span>Stay safe out there, stay strong and stay connected to each other!</span></p><p><span>&#128153; Jo</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/goodbye-you-poisonous-fucking-fraud/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/goodbye-you-poisonous-fucking-fraud/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/goodbye-you-poisonous-fucking-fraud?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/goodbye-you-poisonous-fucking-fraud?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[BUNKER BOY STRIKES AGAIN]]></title><description><![CDATA[A recording from JoJoFromJerz's live video]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-strikes-again</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-strikes-again</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 18:21:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/210921233/ee0edad400e7946daba8127504c5df41.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Shirley Figueroa&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:280974297,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@shirleyfigueroa&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a1ae0ecf-b900-43b2-9e6a-34d21b6814b3_640x638.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;bb32a8bb-8152-487b-a649-c3c4b68ae013&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Jumper&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:311965973,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@jumper4us&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fd135428-ad3e-429e-a160-a475aacd8abd_1122x1122.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;06ef9ea1-2840-4fa5-95b4-883a3cdfb78b&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Diane Jackson&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:114531404,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@diane1261&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/33e56e91-cd21-4fc0-b5a4-24ec8db956a1_144x144.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;279913eb-0749-473b-9002-589184475c36&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Anne Bunting&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:25634864,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@annebunting&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;bdf39d12-efc5-4c8c-909f-9589402e2dac&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Delaina Escott&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:16368465,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@delainaescott1&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;4bab5eb4-fe4e-4127-9449-e0a3c0106b43&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-strikes-again/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-strikes-again/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-strikes-again?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-strikes-again?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bunker Boy Hid In The Beverage Cart]]></title><description><![CDATA[From Air Force One to Meals on Wheels]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-hid-in-the-beverage-cart</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-hid-in-the-beverage-cart</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 12 Aug 2026 19:34:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg" width="860" height="1289" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1289,&quot;width&quot;:860,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:262037,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210942528?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oypU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcf4e519e-2496-43e1-ad48-7ecbfd605a39_860x1289.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Donald Trump is a pussy-ass bitch, and I don&#8217;t give a Kentucky-fried fuck what he blows up, tariffs, tears down, threatens, torches, bombs, bulldozes, bankrupts, or bans trying to distract us or get us talking about something else, because this man constitutionally cannot abide being fucking embarrassed even though he is, in almost every measurable sense, a fucking embarrassment.</span></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t care how many unhinged ALL-CAPS posts he rage-sharts into the internet, or which slack-jawed shitweasel cavalry of bootlicking butt-snorkelers, chinless hall-monitor cucks, and dead-eyed little grievance gnomes he unleashes on whoever bruised his precious little fee-fees, because sad little Bunker Boy ain&#8217;t never living this one down.</span></p><p><span>Ever.</span></p><p><span>He can go live on Fox or CNBC or whatever fucking network is willing to point a camera at him, Boeberting Vladimir Putin with one hand and holding the severed head of a bald eagle in the other while screaming, &#8220;DEATH TO AMERICA! I LOVE ABORTIONS!&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Doesn&#8217;t matter.</span></p><p><span>Because that discarded husk of a used condom filled with fetid fryer oil, that saggy, sloppy, suet-stuffed, deck-stain-dipped, boil-pus-filled anthropomorphic aspic, cankle-hauling fat fuck, thought Iran might assassinate him aboard Air Force One in Turkey, so the supposed leader of the free world clandestinely stowed himself away in a fucking catering truck.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>Are you fucking kidding me.</span></p><p><span>A CATERING TRUCK.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg" width="1035" height="828" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:828,&quot;width&quot;:1035,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:175037,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210942528?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nPFB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F77d29167-7d6b-4d45-9c27-7df17c535602_1035x828.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Not a tank. Not an armored personnel carrier. Not a helicopter. Not some classified presidential Batmobile with bulletproof windows, missile launchers, biometric locks, ejector seats, and a little red button labeled GET THIS FLABBY FUCK OUT OF HERE.</span></p><p><span>The truck with the sandwiches.</span></p><p><span>The rolling refrigerator that trundles around airports stuffed with sweaty cheese cubes, scorched coffee, plastic-wrapped dinner rolls, fancy Hot Pockets, and those little chickpea puffs that are supposedly cheese puffs but only even come moderately close because you&#8217;re eating them at 30,000 feet and it&#8217;s not as if the fucking options are the smorgasbord Templeton sings about in </span><em><span>Charlotte&#8217;s Web</span></em><span>.</span></p><p><span>That is where they put the commander in chief, the swaggering, spray-tanned, shit-talking strongman who has spent months threatening annihilation with all the subtle diplomatic finesse of a drunk hippopotamus head-butting a vending machine because it ate his Funyuns.</span></p><p><span>GET HIS ASS BEHIND THE HUMMUS.</span></p><p><span>Rotisserie Rasputin flew to Turkey aboard that $400 million Qatari flying emoluments violation, the gilded Gulf grift with landing gear otherwise known as Bribe Force One. Apparently it was good enough to fly the president into Turkey, just not good enough for the Secret Service to want his ass flying out once Tehran might actually have had his itinerary.</span></p><p><span>Then Iran threatens to kill him and Captain Courage starts shopping for another fucking airplane.</span></p><p><span>He announces he&#8217;s taking the legacy 747 to Britain &#8220;for old time&#8217;s sake.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>For old time&#8217;s sake.</span></p><p><span>The same vain, venal, vanity-addled cockwomble who would gold-plate a catheter if somebody told him Louis XIV had one developed an aching sentimental attachment to the old airplane at the exact moment there was a credible assassination threat.</span></p><p><span>Sure.</span></p><p><span>And I occasionally wear Spanx because I like the way they push my belly button into my boobs.</span></p><p><span>And last night, this motherfucker was STILL saying the Qatar-donated bird went ahead to England because the troops wanted to see it.</span></p><p><span>The troops.</span></p><p><span>Wanted to see the airplane.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s his fucking story.</span></p><p><span>And why did the Secret Service move him to another aircraft?</span></p><p><span>They just wanted to.</span></p><p><span>Seriously.</span></p><p><span>The Secret Service and military &#8220;wanted me on a different plane.&#8221; That plane, he insisted, was &#8220;equally safe.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Then he said it might actually have been at GREATER risk because enemies could have targeted whichever aircraft contained him.</span></p><p><span>So it was equally safe.</span></p><p><span>Except possibly more dangerous.</span></p><p><span>And the Qatar jet was perfectly fine.</span></p><p><span>Except they didn&#8217;t want him on it.</span></p><p><span>And it only flew to England because the troops wanted to look at it.</span></p><p><span>Got it.</span></p><p><span>Crystal fucking clear.</span></p><p><span>The New York Times reports the Qatari grift jet doesn&#8217;t have all the defensive capabilities of the legacy Air Force One.</span></p><p><span>The Secret Service tells Trump to get his ass out of Turkey on the older plane.</span></p><p><span>The administration does not like that getting out.</span></p><p><span>Federal agents show up at reporters&#8217; homes with fucking subpoenas.</span></p><p><span>Because apparently the problem wasn&#8217;t that the $400 million flying favor needed more defensive upgrades.</span></p><p><span>The problem was that somebody fucking said so.</span></p><p><span>Then a federal judge starts muttering things like &#8220;profound First Amendment&#8221; concerns, and DOJ yanks the subpoenas.</span></p><p><span>New plane has security problems.</span></p><p><span>Reporters expose them.</span></p><p><span>Government goes after the reporters.</span></p><p><span>Iran threatens Trump.</span></p><p><span>New plane leaves without him.</span></p><p><span>Old Air Force One goes up carrying the illusion.</span></p><p><span>Trump gets hidden with the meals.</span></p><p><span>He leaves on plane number three.</span></p><p><span>Everybody fucking lies.</span></p><p><span>That is not a Russian nesting doll.</span></p><p><span>That is a Russian nesting doll stuffed inside a turducken of bullshit, wrapped in classified phyllo dough, shoved into a catering truck, and driven across a Turkish runway by Franz Kafka.</span></p><p><span>The human charcuterie board whose blood panel comes with dipping sauces publicly boards the blue-and-white 747, waves for the cameras, lets everybody think he&#8217;s inside, slips out the OTHER FUCKING SIDE, and gets smuggled out through the galley operation.</span></p><p><span>There goes our fearless leader! There goes the man who destroyed Iran on &#8220;day one&#8221;!</span></p><p><span>Nope.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s coming out the kitchen.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg" width="859" height="1289" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1289,&quot;width&quot;:859,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:297051,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210942528?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FExQ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F966b7abb-f331-423e-8e46-7e4325805879_859x1289.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Some Secret Service agent had to guide that Velveeta-varnished vat of presidential panic onto a hydraulic platform designed to hoist lukewarm carbohydrates into airplanes.</span></p><p><span>Was there a fruit tray where his ass needed to go? Did somebody yell, &#8220;MOVE THE CANTALOUPE, WE&#8217;VE GOT POTUS&#8221;?</span></p><p><span>Was there a clipboard?</span></p><p><span>COFFEE.</span></p><p><span>TEA.</span></p><p><span>CREAMER.</span></p><p><span>NAPKINS.</span></p><p><span>SUGAR.</span></p><p><span>PLASTIC FORKS.</span></p><p><span>FESTERING ORANGE AUTHORITARIAN.</span></p><p><span>Did they put a little sticker on him?</span></p><p><span>KEEP REFRIGERATED.</span></p><p><span>USE WITHIN THREE DAYS.</span></p><p><span>CONTAINS NUTS.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg" width="1035" height="1035" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1035,&quot;width&quot;:1035,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:337449,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210942528?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73So!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bed8184-7501-4bfc-9a4d-1e71e5a0a674_1035x1035.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>And crammed into the rolling panic pantry beside him were Dan Scavino, his former golf caddie turned full-time digital taint polisher; Natalie Harp, his diaper nurse; and Walt Nauta, his flood-the-basement fluffer. No Cabinet officials. Of course not. When the big bad wartime blowhard thought Iran might turn his flight plan into a fucking obituary, he didn&#8217;t grab the secretary of state, the treasury secretary, or anyone whose r&#233;sum&#233; contains a job description more complicated than YES SIR, BEAUTIFUL DRIVE, SIR.</span></p><p><span>He grabbed the Mar-a-Lago pit crew.</span></p><p><span>Somewhere on that Turkish runway, the Colonel of Cold Cuts was crouched beneath fluorescent lighting while the nuclear football got acquainted with mini cans of tomato juice.</span></p><p><span>The 747 takes off with reporters and White House staff aboard who apparently believed the president was with them. They were even told to close the fucking window shades.</span></p><p><span>Meanwhile, the Ayatollah of Aioli is secretly flying to Britain on a completely different military aircraft.</span></p><p><span>The secret flight lands first; minutes later the 747 arrives, and somehow this motherfucker gets BACK onto it and comes down the stairs for the cameras as though he&#8217;d been sitting there the entire goddamn time.</span></p><p><span>This isn&#8217;t presidential travel.</span></p><p><span>This is David Copperfield for dipshits.</span></p><p><span>Remember when Trump told the press pool, &#8220;If I go, you go,&#8221; regarding Air Force One security threats?</span></p><p><span>Turns out he meant:</span></p><p><span>&#8220;I go hide in a catering truck, and you go act as missile bait.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>And that&#8217;s the part I can&#8217;t laugh past.</span></p><p><span>There were people on that fucking plane.</span></p><p><span>Reporters. White House staff. Air Force crew. Human beings who apparently believed the President of the United States was sitting safely aboard with them while his ass was already somewhere else.</span></p><p><span>He didn&#8217;t climb aboard and share the risk.</span></p><p><span>He let them take it.</span></p><p><span>Whatever danger was serious enough to get Donald Trump secretly peeled out of one aircraft, hidden in a food truck, and flown out on another was apparently not serious enough to stop everybody else from being sent into the sky aboard the plane being used to disguise where he actually was.</span></p><p><span>His life is priceless.</span></p><p><span>Yours is useful.</span></p><p><span>The sentient coronary event with a Diet Coke chaser loves danger when danger belongs to somebody else. War is terrific when somebody else&#8217;s kid has to fight it. Sacrifice is beautiful when somebody else is making it. Courage is apparently fucking fantastic provided his own ass never has to produce any.</span></p><p><span>Consequences pull up his itinerary and ask which terminal the orange asshole is departing from, and everybody else becomes cargo, cover, camouflage, chaff, human fucking packing peanuts protecting one swollen, self-preserving sack of shit.</span></p><p><span>Joe Biden never hid in a food truck like a scared little bitch.</span></p><p><span>Joe Biden took a twenty-hour train ride through active, war-torn Ukraine to Kyiv and back.</span></p><p><span>General Gravy Boat got one &#8220;credible&#8221; threat and became a classified casserole.</span></p><p><span>From Semper Fi to Sampler Platter. From Hail to the Chief to Meal of the Week. From Commander in Chief to Commander in Beef. From DEFCON One to Dinner for One. From war room to warming drawer. From military strongman to military-grade Lunchable. From supreme commander to soup of the fucking day.</span></p><p><span>And before some mouth-breathing fuckwit decides this means I wanted Iran to kill him: no.</span></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t want Donald Trump assassinated. I want him alive for a very, very long time. Hydrated. Medically supervised. Excellent kidney function. Fantastic cholesterol. I want his cardiologist walking out every year saying, &#8220;This motherfucker could make 110,&#8221; while Donald sits beneath merciless courtroom fluorescents listening to another bailiff say all rise.</span></p><p><span>But I will never again listen to this drowsy, doughy, diaper-bundled dirigible of delusion threaten Iran without seeing him getting hustled around an airport with the in-flight refreshments. This is a man who can barely stay awake while people are kissing his ass. Put him in a room where twelve grown men are orally buffing his ego to a showroom shine and within twenty minutes his puffy, pissed-shut eye slits disappear into his face while that enormous chin melts into the flesh hammock hanging from his neck.</span></p><p><span>His body is quitting in installments and the staff is painting over the water damage.</span></p><p><span>But tell him Iran might know where HE is?</span></p><p><span>Suddenly Grandpa Gravy is Jason fucking Bourne.</span></p><p><span>And of course all of this screams weakness to our allies, our enemies, but most of all Iran. They watched the man threatening to annihilate them hear that they might know where HE was, and every ounce of pseudo-swagger drained straight out of his ass.</span></p><p><span>The shades came down.</span></p><p><span>The shell game went airborne.</span></p><p><span>Donald disappeared into the galley shit.</span></p><p><span>And I do not want to hear another goddamn word about the only man whose triglycerides require their own motorcade needing a $600 million ballroom. We found your ballroom, you bloated little beef-tallow bitch. Gold-leaf the hydraulic lift. Hang a chandelier from the refrigeration unit. Put velvet curtains around the mop bucket. Eric can guard the plastic forks with his mouth hanging open while Marco Rubio arrives beneath a silver serving dome carrying the last microscopic shaving of his dignity on a cocktail toothpick.</span></p><p><span>Just like he ran to the basement when some loud protesters gave him a sad, when the danger finally came looking for Donald J. Trump personally, the human printer-cartridge warning light disappeared out the back of the presidential jet and got himself smuggled to safety with the fucking snacks.</span></p><p><span>He can rage until that last spun-sugar strand in his new wig abandons ship.</span></p><p><span>He is never fucking outrunning this.</span></p><p><span>But oh, how I wish they&#8217;d left his ass on that fucking truck.</span></p><p>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</p><div id="youtube2-iIpfWORQWhU" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;iIpfWORQWhU&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iIpfWORQWhU?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>(This one was just too obvious)&#8230;</p><p>I love you guys!</p><p>Stay safe out there, stay strong and stay connected to each other!</p><p>&#128153; Jo</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-hid-in-the-beverage-cart/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-hid-in-the-beverage-cart/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-hid-in-the-beverage-cart?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bunker-boy-hid-in-the-beverage-cart?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;09d86d61-c068-4883-9f30-7f69efc5fb4a&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[All the Love Coming Home]]></title><description><![CDATA[For Joe Biden, with gratitude, hope, and more love than words can hold.]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/all-the-love-coming-home</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/all-the-love-coming-home</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2026 00:35:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg" width="1236" height="1413" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1413,&quot;width&quot;:1236,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:190737,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210667488?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!79C3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F98d93fb5-8fea-40f9-9002-c950703735eb_1236x1413.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Anyone who knows me knows that I love Joe Biden to a fault.</span></p><p><span>I love him beyond politics, beyond policy, beyond whatever reasonable emotional distance we&#8217;re supposed to maintain from people we don&#8217;t actually know, because over the years Joe found his way into something much softer and more personal, perilously close to the place my father left behind when I lost him in 2011, an absence no one has ever filled and no one ever could, but one Joe has managed, without ever really knowing me, to make feel a little less empty.</span></p><p><span>And I haven&#8217;t wanted to think too hard about any of this.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;ve seen the headlines. I&#8217;ve read the updates. I&#8217;ve known about the cancer, known that it&#8217;s stage IV. I&#8217;ve read the words metastatic and treatment and progression and let them pass through my eyes without allowing them all the way into my heart, because I&#8217;ve wanted to keep Joe exactly where I know him best: sharp as a tack, funny and warm and wonderfully loquacious, leaning in to hear somebody&#8217;s story, smiling behind those aviators, asking questions and remembering details and making the person standing in front of him feel, impossibly, like the rest of the room had been asked to wait outside.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;ve wanted him preserved there, not in amber exactly, because Joe has never felt remotely still to me, but in that particular living light in which I was lucky enough to know him.</span></p><p><span>Then Hunter said his father&#8217;s cancer has metastasized into his bones and further, that he&#8217;s in a lot of pain, and the distance I&#8217;d been keeping from all of it disappeared.</span></p><p><span>God, those words.</span></p><p><span>I can barely bear them.</span></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t want to imagine the faint creak of a mattress as he shifts because one side aches more than the other, Jill beside him knowing from the movement what he will never need to say aloud, the small domestic choreography illness imposes on people who have loved each other long enough to recognize suffering by the way somebody reaches for the nightstand.</span></p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;1e319618-ce08-4041-8ccf-e49ea037fc68&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p><span>I don&#8217;t want something as ordinary as standing up or crossing a room or settling into a chair to exact a toll from him, and there is something uniquely excruciating about hearing all of this from his son, because underneath the medical language and presidential history and public concern is something painfully simple: a son is watching his dad suffer, and there isn&#8217;t enough love in the world to make the trade every child would make without hesitation.</span></p><p><span>Give it to me instead.</span></p><p><span>Whatever is hurting him, give it to me.</span></p><p><span>Let me carry it for a while.</span></p><p><span>And there is anger in that helplessness too, hot and irrational and completely uninterested in being reasoned with, because I understand perfectly well that cancer doesn&#8217;t conduct character interviews before choosing a body, that decency doesn&#8217;t confer immunity and goodness has never been some celestial insurance policy against suffering, but there is still a furious part of me looking at this kind, empathetic, deeply decent man who has already buried a wife, a baby daughter and a beloved son and asking the universe what the hell else it thinks it is entitled to take from him.</span></p><p><span>He watched Hunter struggle too, and, being Joe, spent years wishing he could take every ounce of it from his son and shoulder it himself.</span></p><p><span>He had every reason to let all that accumulated sorrow ossify around his heart until nothing else could get in, and somehow he did the opposite, somehow stayed soft and open and porous to other people&#8217;s pain, somehow took the most devastating chapters of his own life and used them to learn the language of somebody else&#8217;s grief.</span></p><p><span>Hasn&#8217;t he carried enough?</span></p><p><span>And even now, when the broken places belong to him, this is what Joe says:</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>God, that man.</span></p><p><em><span>We are strongest in the broken places.</span></em></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg" width="1125" height="1523" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fFGA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb8c1ab4-313e-43f2-ad2c-9194ca643e9d_1125x1523.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Of course that&#8217;s what Joe Biden would say, because he has proved it over and over again, turning the places where life wounded him most deeply into the very places from which he could reach another grieving person and say, without platitude or pretense, I know. I&#8217;ve been here too.</span></p><p><span>And now he&#8217;s thanking us for lifting him.</span></p><p><span>I saw a video of Joe outside an Italian restaurant recently, and God love him, he was moving slowly, slower than I&#8217;d ever seen him move, and with Hunter&#8217;s words now lodged somewhere I couldn&#8217;t dislodge them, I found myself watching him with that terrible hyperawareness that takes over when someone you love isn&#8217;t well, studying each step as though vigilance itself might protect him.</span></p><p><span>Does that hurt?</span></p><p><span>Is he tired?</span></p><p><span>How far is the car?</span></p><p><span>I wanted the sidewalk to become shorter, wanted someone else to hold the door, wanted the people around him to give him enough space to simply get where he was going without having to be anything to anybody for five damn minutes.</span></p><p><span>But someone called to him, and Joe turned, because of course he did.</span></p><p><span>There were folks waiting, and he reached for their hands and listened to their stories and looked into their faces, and when Joe Biden looks at somebody, he has this extraordinary way of making the rest of the world wait its turn.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s when I lost it, crying for the better part of an hour because even now, even when every step may be exacting a price none of us can see, somebody called his name and his instinct was still to turn toward them.</span></p><p><span>That is the thing about Joe Biden that has moved me for decades and still moves me now: he shows up, to Mass week after week, for his family, for the country he has spent nearly his entire adult life serving, for strangers standing on sidewalks and grieving parents and frightened children, with the same instinctive decency whether there is a camera pointed at him or not.</span></p><p><span>There really isn&#8217;t a public Joe Biden and a private Joe Biden. There is just Joe, the same warm, curious, talkative, deeply empathetic man whether he is standing in front of a bank of cameras, leaning over a rope line, sitting across a table, or pulling a crying loudmouthed woman from Jersey into a hug because he can see that she needs one.</span></p><p><span>I know because the first two times I was lucky enough to meet him, I wound up crying in his arms, and each time he did exactly what Joe does when another human being is hurting: he pulled me close, made everything feel steadier for a moment, and left me feeling better than he found me.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg" width="1272" height="954" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:954,&quot;width&quot;:1272,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:331704,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210667488?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cb9W!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F04242a37-77e3-407e-8dcd-33c45a40cff7_1272x954.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>My father taught me what it meant to feel safe because a good man simply existed somewhere in the world, what sacrifice looked like when it wasn&#8217;t a speech or a sentiment but a life, what service looked like when nobody was applauding, what love looked like when it showed up in grocery stores and doctors&#8217; offices and school plays and all the million trillion ordinary places where a parent quietly constructs a childhood around the people depending on him.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg" width="1290" height="870" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9UuD!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d03899c-d929-4ec7-9a3f-8a68c47b04e6_1290x870.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>There are still moments, fifteen years later, when some little part of me forgets for half a heartbeat that I cannot go find my dad. I cannot get in the car and drive to him. I cannot call him. I cannot walk through a door and see his shoes on the floor or hear his voice from another room or ask him one stupid little question just to hear him answer. There is no place on this earth where he is still physically waiting for me.</span></p><p><span>And God, that still hurts in a way I do not know how to make smaller.</span></p><p><span>Joe never replaced my father. Nobody could, and nobody ever will. But grief is strange about resemblance, and sometimes another good man touches the exact place where the first good man left an absence, and for one fleeting second the ache changes temperature.</span></p><p><span>When I was lucky enough to have been invited into the Oval Office, which is a sentence I still have to pinch myself saying aloud, I got to tell Joe about my dad.</span></p><p><span>I was standing there in that room I had watched on television with my father when I was a little girl, close enough to see the photographs on the tables and the light coming through those windows, close enough to hear Joe without a microphone between us, and I told him about the teenage boy who came here from Lebanon believing in America, who spent fifty years serving it, who raised five children after our mother left, who taught me that when life knocks you flat you figure out what comes next and then you do it.</span></p><p><span>I told Joe that my father believed in the promise of this country, and through tears I told him that he embodied that promise too, and when my voice finally gave out and the tears took over, Joe pulled me into his arms for the third time.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg" width="1456" height="485" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!FKxW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f6e910f-9f0f-4925-bd68-da077c2bbcbe_1500x500.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>There was something almost unbearably beautiful about that moment, because I had spent years carrying these two good men in adjacent chambers of my heart, one the father who made me and one the president who kept brushing against the place my father&#8217;s absence had left behind, and there I was in the Oval Office, crying into Joe Biden&#8217;s shoulder while telling him about Dad, feeling for a few impossible seconds as though I had finally introduced them.</span></p><p><span>And now Joe&#8217;s son is telling me his dad is suffering.</span></p><p><span>There are certain doors grief leaves unlocked forever, and Hunter&#8217;s words walked straight through one of mine.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;ve admired Joe for decades, and if there is one person in public life I&#8217;d want my kids to study as they grow, it&#8217;s him, because I can think of few better lessons to hand them than the life of a man who never confused strength with cruelty, never mistook decency for weakness, and understood public service as exactly that: service.</span></p><p><span>And this weekend, I saw that contrast rendered almost obscenely clear in two photographs posted side by side: Joe Biden on one side, living with stage IV cancer and looking like a million bucks, carrying himself with that same quiet dignity and fundamental human grace he has always possessed; and on the other, that stupid, evil piece of shit who occupies the Oval Office now, looking like absolute fucking garbage.</span></p><p><span>One of those men is enduring a brutal disease and still radiates a decency Donald Trump couldn&#8217;t manufacture if you gave him another eighty years and every finishing school in Europe.</span></p><p><span>The other is Donald fucking Trump, a malignant, morally putrefied abomination of a human being who has spent years mocking Joe, demeaning him, sneering at his age and treating another person&#8217;s vulnerability as carrion for his own ravenous cruelty.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg" width="1161" height="1076" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1076,&quot;width&quot;:1161,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:140559,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210667488?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ixPV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc24de1f6-86e3-44bd-81a1-60dc55a75935_1161x1076.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Looking at those photographs fills me with a rage so visceral I can feel it in my teeth, because Trump cannot fucking hold a candle to Joe Biden, not as a president, not as a public servant, and certainly not as a man; Joe, sick and carrying suffering none of us can see, possesses more dignity in one slow step across a sidewalk than that vulgar, venal, empathy-bereft piece of human garbage has managed to summon in his entire miserable life.</span></p><p><span>And I hate fucking living with the knowledge that someone as abhorrent as Donald Trump even exists, let alone that he gets to occupy the office Joe Biden honored with such reverence, because there is something almost intolerably perverse about watching cruelty rewarded with power while a man whose instinct has always been to comfort, to serve, to reach toward people is being asked to carry this too, and I cannot change any of it, cannot make the world fairer by wanting it hard enough, cannot reach inside Joe&#8217;s body and wrest the cancer out with my bare hands.</span></p><p><span>So all I can send toward him is every bit of love I have.</span></p><p><span>I hope treatment gives him back pieces of himself in increments, a day that begins with less pain, a steadier step, an appetite, a deep and dreamless night of sleep, until one day he realizes there are more things in his day that feel like living than like being sick.</span></p><p><span>I hope there are moments when the room around him is so full of familiar voices and laughter that illness is forced, however briefly, to become the least important thing in it, long dinners and grandchildren making too much noise, ice cream and football and stories everybody has already heard, quiet hours so beautifully uneventful that nobody thinks to remember them until years later when they realize those were the moments that mattered most.</span></p><p><span>And I hope among that immense, incalculable community of people pulling for him there is room for one loudmouthed girl from Jersey who once stood in the Oval Office crying while she introduced him to her dad.</span></p><p><span>Because Joe, my father taught me that when something is hard, you figure out what comes next and then you keep going, and that is what I&#8217;m going to believe for you now: the next easier morning, the next night your body lets you rest, the next laugh that comes before you have time to remember you&#8217;re sick, the next hand reaching for yours when the dark feels especially long, the next ordinary hour that asks nothing of you except to be alive inside it, and all of us out here loving you through every one.</span></p><p><span>He has no idea what those three embraces gave me, how each one reached into that father-shaped absence I carry everywhere and made it feel, for a few precious seconds, less empty, less cold, less final.</span></p><p><span>There are moments from those meetings I return to the way some people return to prayer: the warmth of his arm around me, the sound of his voice, the way he leaned in when I spoke, the simple, overwhelming relief of being held by a good man when I missed another good man more than I knew how to say.</span></p><p><span>And that is what I want for Joe now. I want the love he has spent a lifetime giving away to make its way to him wherever he is, in whatever room he is sitting in, in whatever hour is hardest, and leave that hour a little lighter.</span></p><p><span>May medicine find its mark, may his body remember ease, may sleep come without negotiation, may there be mornings when nothing inside him demands attention before he has even opened his eyes, and may this good, tender, deeply beloved man who has always reached people in their darkest hours, sat beside them, taken their hands and reminded them there was still light somewhere ahead, feel all of us beside him now.</span></p><p><span>All those folks, all those hands, all that love, finally finding its way home.</span></p><p><span>And with that, I&#8217;ll leave you with this:</span></p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;5faf338f-41cb-451a-8285-35428351143e&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p><span>I love you guys!</span></p><p><span>Please stay safe out there, stay strong, and stay connected to each other.</span></p><p><span>&#128153; Jo</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/all-the-love-coming-home/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/all-the-love-coming-home/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/all-the-love-coming-home?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/all-the-love-coming-home?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Curious Case Of The Missing Fucks]]></title><description><![CDATA[MAGA Voted for This. They Just Thought It Would Happen to Someone Else.]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-curious-case-of-the-missing-fucks</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-curious-case-of-the-missing-fucks</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2026 19:28:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg" width="958" height="1277" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1277,&quot;width&quot;:958,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:176738,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210377875?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!X0Mg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F68c3f20b-d4e9-4706-905d-40915169f339_958x1277.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><a href="https://x.com/amy_siskind/status/2085553837268443631?s=46&amp;t=0jhpxQw9pD9FCcEuf7-TIQ"><span>There&#8217;s a video circulating right now of this Texas guy crying because his beautiful fianc&#233;e was taken by ICE, and after watching the interview a few times now, I gotta tell you something&#8230;</span></a></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t give a fuck about him.</span></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t give a fuck about his tears.</span></p><p><span>I tried. I really did. I sat with them. I contemplated them.</span></p><p><span>I meditated on this man&#8217;s anguish with the solemn concentration of a monk on mushrooms, reflected on it deeply, then shallowly, then from that strange little mezzanine between empathy and incredulity where you&#8217;re no longer sure whether you&#8217;re approaching enlightenment or having a small fucking stroke.</span></p><p><span>And after rummaging through every remaining cupboard, drawer, crawlspace, coat pocket, storage locker, and condemned emotional outbuilding inside my soul, I have reached one blindingly clarifying cosmic conclusion:</span></p><p><span>I am all out of fucks.</span></p><p><span>Completely.</span></p><p><span>I do not give one fuck, two fucks, red fucks, blue fucks.</span></p><p><span>Not one solitary microscopic fuck remains. Not a crumb of a fuck stuck to the emotional countertop, not one feeble little fuck blinking underneath a pile of expired compassion coupons, not the translucent ghost of a fuck drifting down the hallway in a Victorian nightgown begging me to remember what empathy used to feel like.</span></p><p><span>Nothing.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif" width="480" height="480" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:480,&quot;width&quot;:480,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1958994,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210377875?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!tzjA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26060f1b-367e-4e50-aa58-cfe2ce167731_480x480.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>The warehouse is empty. The shelves have been stripped. The inventory computer is flashing OUT OF STOCK, and some exhausted little employee in the back has already checked twice and would really appreciate it if I stopped fucking asking.</span></p><p><span>At one point, I stood in a completely quiet house and called out, &#8220;Here, fuck-fuck!! Come out, come out wherever you are!&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Nothing.</span></p><p><span>Not a creak. Not a shuffle. Not one tiny fuck peeking around a doorway.</span></p><p><span>This is now the latest installment in the Nancy Drew mystery series of books entitled </span><em><span>The Secret of the Missing Fucks,</span></em><span> and I regret to inform you that Nancy has found absolutely fucking nothing.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg" width="850" height="1277" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_NmV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8dc195aa-2e35-4292-a4b4-9c2a47e28cec_850x1277.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Because the man crying in this video is John Gannon, a seventy-five-year-old Texas businessman, lifelong Republican, and Trump voter whose fianc&#233;e, Yasmin Suarez Reyes, was surrounded by eight plainclothes ICE agents at the Houston airport and taken away from him.</span></p><p><span>And in the interview, while trying to comprehend how something this terrifying could possibly have reached into his life, he says:</span></p><p><span>&#8220;You never think a guy like me would ever be involved in something like this.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>A guy like me.</span></p><p><span>Four words.</span></p><p><span>Four tiny fucking words, and somehow they contain the whole festering, pernicious moral bargain.</span></p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;dfeccc82-fffd-4034-98d0-d15afd86ba71&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p><span>Because he didn&#8217;t say, I never thought my government would treat another human being this way. He didn&#8217;t say, I had no idea families were being put through this. He didn&#8217;t say, Holy shit, the people warning us about mass deportation were telling the truth.</span></p><p><span>He said:</span></p><p><span>A guy like me.</span></p><p><span>And suddenly every last surviving fuck in my possession packed a tiny suitcase, put on a hat, and left town.</span></p><p><span>Because what the fuck is a guy like you, John?</span></p><p><span>A businessman? A taxpayer? A Republican? A man with money? Someone who voted correctly enough times that you thought the federal government would laminate you a little KEEP AUTHORITARIANISM OFF MY LAWN card?</span></p><p><span>Did you think ICE agents honored some fucking punch-card rewards program?</span></p><p><span>Ten deportations and the eleventh family separation is free, unless you&#8217;re a Platinum MAGA member, in which case please enjoy complimentary snacks while we terrorize somebody whose name you don&#8217;t know?</span></p><p><span>Because that sentence, &#8220;a guy like me,&#8221; is the whole fucking thing.</span></p><p><span>He understood that there would be guys involved in things like this. Women too. Mothers. Fathers. Fianc&#233;es. Children. Families. People disappearing into detention centers, people calling lawyers in a panic, people trying to figure out where somebody they love has been taken, people staring at an empty passenger seat or an empty side of the bed while the gears of the federal government keep grinding along without giving the faintest fuck about their terror.</span></p><p><span>He just never pictured himself standing close enough to hear the machinery.</span></p><p><span>And I want to be extremely fucking clear because Yasmin is the one paying the fucking price.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg" width="647" height="340" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0rRT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe69e6967-1444-4670-9fe1-7d9a71d9bbc7_647x340.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>She is the one my heart breaks for. Because one minute she was a woman moving through her own life, making plans, loving someone, expecting tomorrow to look more or less like yesterday, and the next she was surrounded, taken, and fed into a detention system that can turn a person into a file number before the people who love them have even figured out where the fuck they went.</span></p><p><span>I have empathy for her. I have anger for her. I have every available fuck for the woman swallowed by this nightmare.</span></p><p><span>But John?</span></p><p><span>John helped make this shit her reality.</span></p><p><span>He fucking voted for it.</span></p><p><span>No amount of climbing over it, crawling underneath it, emotionally pole-vaulting around it, or wrapping it in some lovely little Hallmark meditation about how suffering teaches us all to be better people changes that.</span></p><p><span>Donald Trump didn&#8217;t campaign on a secret immigration agenda hidden inside a locked briefcase beneath Mar-a-Lago.</span></p><p><span>He screamed mass deportation into every microphone shoved near his face. He promised raids, roundups, removals by the millions, the biggest deportation operation in American history, and the rabid, raging horde around him clamored like chummed fucking piranhas to &#8220;send them back,&#8221; not giving a single solitary fuck whether some of the people they were screaming about had ever actually had a &#8220;back&#8221; to fucking go to.</span></p><p><span>And they never, not once, seriously considered that this shit could happen to the brown people they actually knew.</span></p><p><span>It wouldn&#8217;t happen to Yasmin.</span></p><p><span>Or their coworker.</span></p><p><span>Or the woman their son married.</span></p><p><span>Or the guy who fixes their roof.</span></p><p><span>Or their daughter&#8217;s best friend&#8217;s dad.</span></p><p><span>Or the mother whose kid sits next to theirs at school.</span></p><p><span>Certainly not a guy like me.</span></p><p><span>Somebody else.</span></p><p><span>Always somebody fucking else.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2043082,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210377875?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgrY!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ca93bdd-f1ae-4ed8-a844-2ab878a7c4f0_1536x1024.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>So I&#8217;m talking to YOU, John, and every Ma and Pa MAGAidiot just like you.</span></p><p><span>You were FINE with all of this just so long as it happened to &#8220;they, them, those people.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>The ones who don&#8217;t talk like you, or look like you, or love like you, or worship like you.</span></p><p><span>The ones whose names sound foreign to your ear, whose neighborhoods you don&#8217;t drive through, whose families you don&#8217;t know, whose fear never has to sit across from you at the dinner table.</span></p><p><span>You were fine with the atavistic racism. Fine with the nativist bile. Fine with the raids. Fine with the intimidation. Fine with the cruelty, the cages, the calculated dehumanization. Fine with the giant federal machine coming down on human beings with all the tenderness of a fucking meat grinder, so long as the blood spatter stayed off your shoes.</span></p><p><span>That was the deal.</span></p><p><span>And it&#8217;s the same deal curdling all across Trump America now, where the red-hatted congregation of buyer&#8217;s-remorse dipshits is finally looking around at the country it explicitly ordered and whining:</span></p><p><span>Wait.</span></p><p><span>The war?</span></p><p><span>I didn&#8217;t vote for this.</span></p><p><span>The prices?</span></p><p><span>I didn&#8217;t vote for this.</span></p><p><span>The tariffs hitting my business?</span></p><p><span>I didn&#8217;t vote for this.</span></p><p><span>ICE taking somebody I love?</span></p><p><span>I DEFINITELY didn&#8217;t vote for this.</span></p><p><span>Ya fucking think?</span></p><p><span>We now have people staring at a protracted war in Iran after voting for the guy who sold himself as the man of no new wars, acting like somebody swapped presidents while they were sleeping.</span></p><p><span>He lied to us!</span></p><p><span>Yes.</span></p><p><span>Donald Trump lied to you.</span></p><p><span>Alert the fucking Smithsonian. Call Ripley&#8217;s Believe It or Not. Get David Attenborough over here immediately because apparently we&#8217;ve discovered the first recorded case of Donald Trump lying, which should be displayed in a glass case between the Loch Ness Monster and a Republican healthcare plan.</span></p><p><span>Yet somehow, every fresh consequence still arrives to these people as breaking fucking news.</span></p><p><span>Because the smooth-brained price-of-eggs patriots are now shuffling through grocery stores in stunned disbelief that their tariff-humping messiah did not, in fact, descend from the escalator carrying stone tablets engraved with TWO-FOR-ONE FROSTED FLAKES.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;He said prices would come down.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>And?</span></p><p><span>This man has spent his entire adult life lying with the serene confidence of a toddler covered in chocolate insisting he has never seen the fucking cake.</span></p><p><span>You didn&#8217;t get conned by a master illusionist.</span></p><p><span>You got fooled by a fat kid with frosting on his face.</span></p><p><span>What exactly were you waiting for before skepticism kicked in?</span></p><p><span>A cymbal crash?</span></p><p><span>A flashing marquee over your frontal lobe reading CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE DEVELOPED OBJECT PERMANENCE?</span></p><p><span>Did you need somebody to smack two brain cells together like jumper cables until one of them finally coughed up a working fucking thought?</span></p><p><span>Did the epiphany need to arrive by FedEx with SIGNATURE REQUIRED stamped across the box?</span></p><p><span>It wasn&#8217;t that you were lied to.</span></p><p><span>Millions of us warned you.</span></p><p><span>Economists warned you. Immigration advocates warned you. Military experts warned you. Doctors warned you. Teachers warned you. Women warned you. Immigrants warned you.</span></p><p><span>But you, and your plurality of the dumbest dumbfucks who ever dumbed, shrugged with the obdurate certainty that the consequences had somebody else&#8217;s address.</span></p><p><span>That is the disease.</span></p><p><span>Cruelty is remarkably easy to tolerate from the cheap seats. It becomes considerably less entertaining when it walks up your driveway in a ski mask carrying handcuffs and a handgun.</span></p><p><span>You wanted mass deportations until the woman being deported was your fianc&#233;e. You wanted tariffs until the bill landed on your counter. You wanted disruption until your livelihood got disrupted. You wanted the strongman until his fist swung wide enough to catch you square in that gaping open &#8220;this shit won&#8217;t happen to me&#8221; mouth.</span></p><p><span>You wanted the wrecking ball.</span></p><p><span>You just wanted some magical little targeting system installed inside it guaranteeing it would smash everybody else&#8217;s house and gently float over yours like a fucking parade balloon.</span></p><p><span>And you didn&#8217;t give a fuck about family separation until your daughter&#8217;s bestie&#8217;s daddy was the one being hauled away.</span></p><p><span>And now the thing you applauded is sitting in your living room. Now it has your phone number. Now you know its name. Now you can hear someone you love crying.</span></p><p><span>And NOW:</span></p><p><span>&#8220;This isn&#8217;t what I voted for.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Yes.</span></p><p><span>It fucking is.</span></p><p><span>You just thought cruelty came &#224; la carte.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg" width="417" height="479" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JUJ-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c40b7da-5eb3-48e2-af0c-b6cb235b4edb_417x479.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>You thought you could order the racism and anti-immigration venom without the babies being starved behind bars, the authoritarianism without the fear, the tariffs without the prices, the chaos without the consequences, the chest-thumping, flag-flapping, fucking militarism without another war, and the giant state deportation apparatus without ever having to watch it drag away somebody whose hand you had actually held.</span></p><p><span>You thought the leopard came house-trained.</span></p><p><span>And now you&#8217;re bleeding on the carpet wondering why nobody warned you it had teeth.</span></p><p><span>We did.</span></p><p><span>Over and over and over again.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg" width="399" height="501" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:501,&quot;width&quot;:399,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:56878,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210377875?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rDfj!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8cb73380-d72e-4029-999b-77d2dbac4ad0_399x501.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>And after all of that, I&#8217;m apparently expected to watch John Gannon cry and manufacture sympathy for the shock of discovering that the beast he helped loose does not distinguish between human beings according to his solipsistic hierarchy of who deserves to have their face torn off and who doesn&#8217;t.</span></p><p><span>So once again, I searched.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif" width="320" height="320" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/cef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:200,&quot;width&quot;:200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:320412,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210377875?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!o1i-!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcef6e89b-f65f-46b9-a1f3-d580f585ca38_200x200.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>I turned my soul upside down like an overstuffed purse in a Target parking lot and shook it. Receipts flew out. Loose change. An ancient ChapStick. Three emotional Tic Tacs. Whatever scrap of optimism survived 2016.</span></p><p><span>But no fucks.</span></p><p><span>I sent Yukon Cornelius into the frozen subterranean reaches of my conscience with a pickaxe and instructions to tap every goddamn surface until he found something resembling sympathy for a man discovering what the thing he voted for feels like from underneath it.</span></p><p><span>Tap.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Nothin&#8217;.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Another wall.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Nothin&#8217;.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>One last hopeful lick of the pickaxe.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Nothin&#8217;.&#8221;</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif" width="320" height="242.9090909090909" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:167,&quot;width&quot;:220,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:86510,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210377875?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!hG30!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa32db7e9-c3f2-460f-a4a8-72ba5c872def_220x167.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>The fuck-mines are barren.</span></p><p><span>Does it make me happy to feel nothing for this man?</span></p><p><span>No.</span></p><p><span>Does it make me a bad person that I don&#8217;t?</span></p><p><span>Also no.</span></p><p><span>Because if he had given a fuck about anyone else before the cruelty came home to him, I wouldn&#8217;t be sitting here writing about my complete and spectacular lack of fucks for him now.</span></p><p><span>If the terror of strangers had mattered before the terror had Yasmin&#8217;s face, if somebody else&#8217;s shattered family had been enough to move him before his own heart was the thing being broken, there would be something here for me to reach for.</span></p><p><span>There isn&#8217;t.</span></p><p><span>I hope Yasmin comes home. I hope she gets to walk out of that detention system and back into her own life. I hope she never has to experience anything like this again, and I hope the millions of innocent people living through consequences they never asked for eventually get their country, their safety, their stability, and their fucking peace back.</span></p><p><span>But him?</span></p><p><span>No.</span></p><p><span>Because his heartbreak did not begin when America started doing this.</span></p><p><span>It began when America did it to someone he loved.</span></p><p><span>He didn&#8217;t suddenly discover cruelty.</span></p><p><span>He discovered proximity.</span></p><p><span>And there is a canyon of moral difference between the two.</span></p><p><span>He says he never thought &#8220;a guy like me&#8221; would be involved in something like this.</span></p><p><span>Of course he didn&#8217;t.</span></p><p><span>That was the whole fantasy.</span></p><p><span>The suffering would always belong to somebody else. The crying family would always be somebody else&#8217;s. The empty chair would always sit at somebody else&#8217;s table. The boot would always land on somebody else&#8217;s neck.</span></p><p><span>You just never thought the cruelty would come knocking on your own fucking door.</span></p><p><span>So now YOU can cry harder, John.</span></p><p><span>Because I do not have a single solitary fuck to give.</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-xLpfbcXTeo8" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;xLpfbcXTeo8&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xLpfbcXTeo8?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p><span>I love you guys! </span></p><p><span>Stay safe out there, stay strong and stay connected to each other!</span></p><p><span>&#128153; Jo</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-curious-case-of-the-missing-fucks/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-curious-case-of-the-missing-fucks/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" 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Tears]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bill-cassidy-can-go-fuck-himself-461</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bill-cassidy-can-go-fuck-himself-461</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 23:36:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg" width="1028" height="578" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:578,&quot;width&quot;:1028,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:105342,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210286197?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fUN1!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b9a734c-9b20-446f-94fd-33ca65265242_1028x578.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Today, Bill Cassidy stood at the charred perimeter of his Senate career with one last chance to excavate a fucking spinal column from the years of accumulated cowardice, humiliation, and knee-worn submission, jam it back into the soft cartilage still keeping him vertical, and leave Washington looking marginally less like the boneless political husk Donald Trump had spent years kicking around for sport.</span></p><p><span>He had one final opportunity to claw himself out from under Trump&#8217;s heel, spit the bootblack, blood, and leather grit from his mouth, wrench whatever calcified scrap of backbone remained from the smoking wreckage of his own political corpse, and stand the fuck up when there was no seat left to save, no master left to please, no future left to barter away, and absolutely no reason on God&#8217;s scorched earth to keep crawling.</span></p><p><span>And he still could not fucking do it.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>Lisa Murkowski found the word no. Susan Collins found it too, but spare me the stained-glass portrait of principle. Blanche still had a path, Maine is heading into her reelection race, and now she gets to mail home another postcard stamped LOOK AT ME, I STOOD ON PRINCIPLE.</span></p><p><span>Bullshit.</span></p><p><span>She did the right thing. Her motivations arrived carrying a calculator and checking the vote count, but at least when the moment came she managed to locate the fucking button marked NO.</span></p><p><span>And Bill fucking Cassidy, standing at the ragged ass-end of a Senate tenure the corpulent, cankle-swinging, creamsicle-colored carnival carcass had already stomped into the dirt, reached into the lint trap where his balls should have been, came up empty, and announced that he would be the pivotal Republican vote helping Todd Blanche become attorney general of the United States.</span></p><p><span>Todd fucking Blanche.</span></p><p><span>Cassidy stood there admitting he was &#8220;troubled&#8221; by Blanche approving a $1.8 billion fund for Trump allies, helping carve out tax-audit protections for Trump, and presiding over a Justice Department sicced on Trump&#8217;s perceived enemies, troubled enough to inventory the corruption, follow the greasy trail, lift the fucking sewer grate and describe exactly what was festering underneath, and then, after all that solemn throat-clearing and Capitol Hill hand-wringing, vote to hand the keys to the guy standing ankle-deep in the sludge.</span></p><p><span>Then this damp little dishrag said, &#8220;I&#8217;ll be criticized for this vote. What&#8217;s new?&#8221; and assured Louisiana he had worked hard to understand the issue and make the right decision.</span></p><p><span>And he got fucking choked up.</span></p><p><span>Not because Todd Blanche stirred some sacred physician-statesman conviction. His voice cracked because, somewhere beneath the senatorial shellac, self-soothing horseshit, and sweaty, small-souled rationalization, Bill Cassidy felt the full dead weight of what he had just done settle around his neck.</span></p><p><span>That was recognition. That was shame. That was the fucking albatross landing, feathers, weight, claws and all, right across the back of his neck while he stood there trying to convince Louisiana that the thing crushing his shoulders was actually principle.</span></p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;4e196c1b-4005-4e5f-8905-dfa8eb2a4eca&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p><span>That was a spineless cocksucker realizing in real time that he had welded this vote to his name forever, and that when he slinks back to Louisiana with his tail tucked between those same fucking dickless legs that never managed to hold him upright, Todd Blanche is going home with him. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is going home with him. Every craven genuflection, cowardly curtsy, and pathetic capitulation is going home with him.</span></p><p><span>Because Trump already called Cassidy a &#8220;sleazebag,&#8221; a &#8220;terrible guy,&#8221; and a &#8220;disloyal disaster.&#8221; Trump endorsed Julia Letlow. Cassidy finished third in his own primary.</span></p><p><span>Third.</span></p><p><span>Trump celebrated that his political career was over. No endorsement left to chase, no reelection left to save, no little scrap of political survival left to bargain for. The cage door was open, the leash was on the floor, and Cassidy still picked the fucking thing up with his teeth.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg" width="1022" height="1277" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1277,&quot;width&quot;:1022,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:173679,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210286197?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CgtW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa30cc62b-a60b-44e1-84aa-05276d354496_1022x1277.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>There aren&#8217;t enough adjectives in Roget&#8217;s warehouse for this degree of moral osteoporosis: marrowless, weak-kneed, lily-livered, yellow-bellied, timorous, recreant, pusillanimous, servile, sniveling, groveling, bootlicking, ring-kissing, belly-crawling, jelly-spined little civic invertebrate.</span></p><p><span>A cringing, cuckholding capitulator. A quivering fucking milksop who had finally been released from every political incentive to remain a coward and discovered, to what I imagine was his profound surprise, that the folding and flinching had hardened into muscle memory.</span></p><p><span>And all of this abasement was for Todd Blanche, Donald Trump&#8217;s former personal lawyer, the man who led Trump&#8217;s defense in the Manhattan case where a jury found Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts.</span></p><p><span>Blanche is not Trump-adjacent. Blanche is a fixer. There is no daylight between him and the person he serves. He has positioned himself between Donald Trump and consequence like a human legal airbag, absorbing accountability, redirecting impact, and making himself professionally indispensable to a man whose entire relationship with the law seems to consist of finding another human being willing to stand between him and it.</span></p><p><span>And Blanche is such a smug, sleazy, spiritually putrefied species of scumbag, with that sleek, slippery, self-satisfied smirk and the oleaginous courtroom composure of a guy who could watch somebody wheel a corpse through the lobby and ask whether the deceased has standing.</span></p><p><span>Smarmy. Slithery. Sanctimonious. Saponaceous. Serpentine.</span></p><p><span>A lacquered lackey, polished prevaricator, Trump-serving legal go-between with the spiritual warmth of an autopsy table.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg" width="1200" height="800" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/eeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:65908,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210286197?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!33m6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feeff127f-972c-40a2-8bcb-e0229dcdc205_1200x800.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>And I swear to God, every time I look at Todd Blanche I wonder what happened in that man&#8217;s childhood to leave him with the emotional temperature of a dead motel lobby at 3:17 in the morning.</span></p><p><span>Was he never held as a baby?</span></p><p><span>Was he left overnight in the furniture department of a Sears by his fun Uncle Ricky after dinner at the Ground Round and found the next morning emotionally imprinted on a beige sectional?</span></p><p><span>Because somebody clearly assembled this fucker out of cufflinks, cold cuts, hair product, and nondisclosure agreements and forgot to install the goddamn soul, which is probably how you end up as the guy Donald Trump sends to sit across from Ghislaine fucking Maxwell for two days, hand her limited-use immunity, and listen while a woman serving twenty years for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually exploit underage girls serves up exactly the fucking answer he needed.</span></p><p><span>And what did she hand him?</span></p><p><span>She never saw Donald Trump &#8220;do anything inappropriate.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Well, fuck me sideways. Pack up the files. Turn off the lights. Ghislaine Maxwell has cleared him.</span></p><p><span>The architect of Epstein&#8217;s recruitment and grooming machine has apparently been promoted to character witness for the fucking president.</span></p><p><span>What luck.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp" width="1456" height="970" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:970,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:310946,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210286197?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A-bV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7791f7-36cb-4f00-9482-6f538a6a97c7_2000x1333.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>And then miraculously, days later, what do you know, she gets moved to a minimum-security federal prison camp, not merely lower security, not some modest administrative adjustment from one locked door to another, but the lowest fucking security level in the federal system, because in this diseased little arrangement the appropriate response to a convicted child sex trafficker giving the president precisely the testimony he needed was to start shopping for cushier fucking quarters.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>And Todd Blanche has DEFENDED that transfer. He says Maxwell was receiving death threats and moving her was necessary for her safety.</span></p><p><span>So no, I&#8217;m not giving him some dainty little rhetorical escape hatch where everyone pretends this baffling relocation just materialized from the Bureau of Prisons ether while Todd Blanche happened to be alphabetizing briefs somewhere.</span></p><p><span>He put his fucking name behind it, so own it. Don&#8217;t stand there now polishing the language until everybody forgets whose fingerprints are on the glass.</span></p><p><span>Because protecting Epstein&#8217;s convicted accomplice from threats somehow required whisking her into a prison camp where even the warden reportedly could not explain to lawmakers why the fuck she was there.</span></p><p><span>And somehow the fucking amenities get worse.</span></p><p><span>Maxwell had customized meals delivered to her, bottled water, unsupervised laptop access, free run of staff-only areas, extraordinary visitor accommodations, and even special permission to pet and play with a puppy.</span></p><p><span>A fucking puppy.</span></p><p><span>Other prisoners get federal incarceration. Ghislaine Maxwell gets summer camp with therapy dogs and goddamn room service.</span></p><p><span>And because this sordid arrangement needed another dollop of sleaze, Maxwell&#8217;s attorney, David Oscar Markus, is Todd Blanche&#8217;s friend, which means we are now staring at the immunity deal, Trump-clearing testimony from Epstein&#8217;s convicted accomplice, her relocation to the lowest-security federal prison camp in the country, bespoke food, bottled drinks, laptop access, private privileges, canine playtime, and a conveniently friendly lawyer, all piled together in one rancid little tableau that would have Republicans biting through their own molars on live television if a Democratic administration were responsible for one-tenth of it.</span></p><p><span>And Todd Blanche is standing in the middle of all of it with that supercilious, shit-eating serenity of somebody who seems genuinely offended that the rest of us possess object permanence, as though noticing the sequence itself is some outrageous breach of etiquette and we should all have the decency to forget what happened three paragraphs ago.</span></p><p><span>The chronology doesn&#8217;t merely flash like a hazard light. It fucking reeks. It reeks of access and indulgence and preferential treatment, of velvet-rope justice and private-door privilege, of pampered, protected horseshit so nakedly grotesque that in any other administration it would already have spawned twelve hearings, thirty-seven cable-news chyrons, and at least one congressman sweating through a flag pin.</span></p><p><span>And while Maxwell is enjoying Camp Cupcake with canine enrichment, Blanche&#8217;s Justice Department is STILL playing three-card monte with the Epstein files: hide the document, black out the name, miss the deadline, withhold the material, blame the process, shuffle the paperwork, do it again, then stare blankly across the table as though everyone else is being terribly unreasonable for remembering that Congress passed a fucking law requiring you to disclose this shit.</span></p><p><span>Katie Phang had to drag this shit into federal court, and Judge Emmet Sullivan has been dealing with Blanche&#8217;s department ducking, dodging, redacting, withholding, and generally behaving like the fucking files contain the nuclear launch codes written on Jimmy Hoffa&#8217;s ass.</span></p><p><span>Black bars, blank logs, belated bullshit, bureaucratic buck-passing. Redaction roulette. Disclosure dodgeball. Delay, deflection, diminution, document-dodging.</span></p><p><span>Call it what it fucking is: a lubricious, self-protective shell game being run by Donald Trump&#8217;s former personal fixer from inside the United States Department of Justice.</span></p><p><span>And do not tell me the January 6 payout pot is dead. The underlying settlement remains intact, Trump has threatened to revive the fund, and the deal contains no language preventing the same sewage from sloshing back under another name.</span></p><p><span>You just fucking know Blanche will find the legal trapdoor and slide it onto the table again.</span></p><p><span>Cassidy handed that silken son of a bitch the keys anyway because Trump might choose somebody worse.</span></p><p><span>That is not advice and consent. That is hostage logic wearing a Senate pin.</span></p><p><span>Eat this bowl of shit because Daddy might bring a bigger spoon.</span></p><p><span>Cassidy rehearsed this cowardice with RFK Jr., supplying the deciding committee vote that advanced him. Today Kennedy is at CDC headquarters, and CNN reported this morning that roughly half the staff were working from home because they did not want to see his stupid fucking face.</span></p><p><span>RFK Jr. was the rehearsal.</span></p><p><span>Todd Blanche is the fucking encore.</span></p><p><span>Bill Cassidy had one final chance to leave with his name intact and he shit it away, so I hope that shame beats him to every fundraiser, lecture hall, boardroom, banquet, airport lounge, and post-Senate panel where somebody tries to dress this craven little collapse up as statesmanship.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!LTHR!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc3bde447-31c8-4b34-8095-ea2dd4193248_1028x685.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div 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stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>I hope Louisiana remembers the doctor who knew better, the senator with nothing left to lose, the man Trump discarded who reached the one moment when courage would cost him fucking nothing and still could not locate a molecule of it.</span></p><p><span>Let coward follow him. Let poltroon precede him. Let lickspittle sit beside every accolade and gutless, groveling, genuflecting supplicant crawl into every flattering obituary.</span></p><p><span>He knew better. He had nothing left to fear.</span></p><p><span>And he fucking bent anyway.</span></p><p><span>So may that albatross stay cinched around his neck while he scuttles home, tail tucked between his cucked and castrated little legs, carrying every miserable, reputation-rotting ounce of the surrender he chose.</span></p><p><span>And for that, Bill Cassidy can go obscenely, operatically, oathlessly, historically, and eternally&#8230; fuck himself.</span></p><p><span>Bye, Bill! &#128075;&#127995;</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-uSiHqxgE2d0" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;uSiHqxgE2d0&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uSiHqxgE2d0?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>I love you guys!</p><p>Stay safe out there! Stay strong and stay connected to each other!!</p><p>Tell me in the chat what you&#8217;ve got planned for the weekend. I&#8217;m staying home to finally tackle Mt. Post-Vacation-Laundrysuvius and I cannot wait! &#129530;</p><p>&#128153; Jo</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bill-cassidy-can-go-fuck-himself-461/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bill-cassidy-can-go-fuck-himself-461/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bill-cassidy-can-go-fuck-himself-461?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bill-cassidy-can-go-fuck-himself-461?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Strawberry-Blonde Merkin of State]]></title><description><![CDATA[Is the so-called president wearing somebody else&#8217;s downstairs hair&#8230; upstairs? &#128064;]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-strawberry-blonde-merkin-of-state</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-strawberry-blonde-merkin-of-state</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:14:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h6><span>A quick word from my new sponsor, Incogni.</span></h6><h6><span>Because of the work I do, I&#8217;ve had strangers threaten me, and one of the scariest parts is realizing how much of your personal information is just sitting online for anyone to find.</span></h6><h6><span>That&#8217;s why I use Incogni. They help remove your information from data brokers and people-search sites, then keep monitoring so it doesn&#8217;t quietly pop back up again.</span></h6><h6><span>If you want to make yourself a lot harder to find, get 55% off annual plans with code </span><a href="https://incogni.com/deal?transaction_id=1021792a97a904a002ca263259e9a7&amp;offer_id=6&amp;affiliate_id=2728&amp;source=&amp;aff_sub=&amp;utm_source=Affiliates&amp;utm_medium=2728icg&amp;utm_campaign=affiliate&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_content=6"><span>JOJODEAL</span></a><span>.</span></h6><div><hr></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg" width="1290" height="709" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A43l!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe8ea4910-ba1a-48f0-b04f-35ab87804a9a_1290x709.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Listen, I know. Believe me, I fucking know.</span></p><p><span>I know this country is coming apart at the fucking seams at an astonishing, almost industrial rate.</span></p><p><span>I know we are trapped in a protracted bullshit war that apparently isn&#8217;t a war, run by a malignant, megalomaniacal, morally gangrenous sociopath who doesn&#8217;t give a single solitary fuck whether another American service member comes home alive &#8212; burning through missiles until the day this administration shrugs and says, &#8220;Gee, sorry, Ukraine, cupboards are bare,&#8221; handing Vladimir Putin exactly what he wanted on a silver goddamn platter.</span></p><p><span>Because, as Nancy Pelosi once said, all roads lead to Putin.</span></p><p><span>And why would he care? Donald Trump has no discernible regard for human life beyond whether it can flatter him, enrich him, vote for him, or be arranged photogenically behind him at a rally &#8212; and he does not think beyond the next headline, the next grievance, or the next opportunity for one of his two spectacularly stupid eldest spawn to turn a body count into a fucking revenue stream.</span></p><p><span>The entire foreign-policy doctrine: Can Don Jr. monetize it? Can Eric stand beside it with his mouth hanging open? Can somebody wrap the whole fetid, flagrantly felonious fuckfest in a flag and call it patriotism before lunch?</span></p><p><span>Then fire away.</span></p><p><span>I know children are hungry. I know people cannot afford their medicine. I know families are choosing between groceries and utilities while the American food supply plays Russian roulette beneath fluorescent grocery-store lighting.</span></p><p><span>I know there are a thousand scandals, corruption schemes, and constitutional crises unfolding at any given moment thanks to this teeny-tiny tyrant and the suppurating circle of sycophants orbiting him like flies around a gas-station hot dog.</span></p><p><span>I know.</span></p><p><span>But today, I don&#8217;t want to talk about any of it &#8212; not Iran, not Putin, not the economy, not the never-ending national emergency being run by a man whose entire governing philosophy appears to be:</span></p><p><span>&#8220;What if the dumbest fucking guy at the country club controlled the Pentagon?&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Today I want to be gloriously, unapologetically petty. Today I&#8217;m cashing in one emotional sick day from democracy.</span></p><p><span>Today I want to ignore every burning building long enough to laugh at the pustulent little pyromaniac wearing a piss-blond pubic pompadour.</span></p><p><span>Because every once in a while, the universe hands you a gift, and last night it handed us an eighty-year-old, nuclear-orange narcissist who apparently looked in the mirror, saw a strawberry-blonde Sam Sheepdog pelt glued to his scalp, nodded approvingly, and thought:</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Yeah. Nobody&#8217;s gonna notice this.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Because what in the lemon-chiffon, swoop-de-loop, shellac-soaked, candy-coated cornmeal catastrophe is that?</span></p><p><span>LOOK. AT. THIS. FUCKING. PHOTO.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg" width="1035" height="932" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!W8qW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa6a66863-4547-40b3-9760-a1bb9d077f2a_1035x932.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Donald Trump, that blotched, bloated, bronzer-basted, bargain-basement Baron Harkonnen of bullshit, shuffled into that Vegas ballroom wearing what can only be described as a federally subsidized merkin, a crusty, musty, dusty crotch curtain that got promoted to head office, waddling beneath the casino lights looking like somebody taxidermied the Cowardly Lion&#8217;s taint, bleached it with Sun-In, shellacked it with Aqua Net, and stapled the poor bastard sideways across his forehead.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg" width="1290" height="898" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/caf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:898,&quot;width&quot;:1290,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:104015,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210120808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zc_L!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcaf26b5e-4aba-4555-9ebd-6678e511ac7d_1290x898.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>The man&#8217;s scalp got skull-fucked by a breeze on Sunday &#8212; bent over on a tarmac, cheeks spread, bald spot gaping at God and C-SPAN &#8212; and instead of taking the L like a person with a functioning shame gland, he showed up three days later wearing his mommy&#8217;s hair like the world&#8217;s most Oedipal glory-hole disguise, a lace-front so thirsty it&#8217;s basically edging the entire press pool.</span></p><p><span>Some poor White House staffer got dispatched to the wig store with a government credit card and one breathtakingly vague instruction: &#8220;Make him look like his mother.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>And they did.</span></p><p><span>They fucking did.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg" width="1035" height="518" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:518,&quot;width&quot;:1035,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:125598,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210120808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-HDu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4512cf1f-0864-45a5-8bc8-2321476fb04c_1035x518.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>That isn&#8217;t hair. Hair doesn&#8217;t just fucking materialize on Wednesday when it wasn&#8217;t there Tuesday.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>Call it a wig, a rug, a syrup, a topper, a postiche, a forehead futon, a dome duvet, a keratin Ponzi scheme, a strawberry-blonde merkin, or whatever euphemism the industry invented to avoid saying, &#8220;We glued somebody else&#8217;s pubes to your skull.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Call it whatever the fuck you want.</span></p><p><span>It is very obviously not growing out of that man&#8217;s head.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg" width="1155" height="735" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:735,&quot;width&quot;:1155,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:100850,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210120808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nnAr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff6702e87-b895-4cc7-a8cf-0cf9608ee09f_1155x735.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>He stood up there in what can only be described as a pube parka, a taint tarp, a glued-on gooch garnish, lecturing America while looking like he skinned the shag carpet from a 1978 conversion van that hosted activities no forensic team could ever fully reconstruct. That thing is a scalp-mounted thirst trap for the assisted-living demographic, the follicular equivalent of stuffing a sock down your pants, except the sock is on his head, the pants are the presidency, and everybody around him has been ordered to admire the bulge.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg" width="1290" height="941" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:941,&quot;width&quot;:1290,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:168727,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210120808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jwQX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fee4ef05c-d388-4d4b-9709-ee4ae453a9c9_1290x941.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>It looks so much like roadkill I&#8217;m genuinely worried Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is going to wander over with a hacksaw, decapitate it, cut its balls off, dump it beside a bicycle in Central Park, and spend the next decade insisting that&#8217;s just what outdoorsmen do. Somebody needs to put a fluorescent orange hunting vest on Trump&#8217;s hair before Bobby mistakes it for protected wildlife.</span></p><p><span>And the color. Sweet merciful Christ.</span></p><p><span>His face is radioactive traffic cone. His neck is deli ham. His ears are boiled bratwurst. His eyelids are undercooked salmon. Then, without warning, BAM: discount butterscotch Labradoodle.</span></p><p><span>Who signed off on this fucking palette? The front is buttercream beige. The sides are nicotine nougat. The back is dehydrated corn silk. The crown is whatever color a motel comforter turns after thirty years of cigarette smoke and broken dreams. Nothing matches. Not his face, not his neck, not his eyebrows, not reality.</span></p><p><span>From the eyebrows down, he&#8217;s Sweetums from The Muppets after forty years of Marlboros, mayonnaise, and Medicare fraud. From the eyebrows up, he&#8217;s a freshly bleached alpaca undercarriage after a chemical peel and a bitter divorce.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg" width="818" height="532" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:532,&quot;width&quot;:818,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:50163,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210120808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!p9NA!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6ff0708a-94e9-447c-b330-e738f65dcbe9_818x532.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Because this isn&#8217;t hairstyling. This is civil engineering.</span></p><p><span>Every surviving follicle has been forcibly evicted from whatever lonely patch of scalp still supported life, dragged across six square miles of barren forehead, stretched tighter than a banjo string at a bluegrass festival, varnished into submission, and ordered to swear under oath that it has always fucking lived there.</span></p><p><span>His hairline has been gerrymandered harder than a swing state. There are strands voting in congressional districts they haven&#8217;t physically occupied since Bill Clinton was president.</span></p><p><span>Every man eventually meets his hairline in the wind and makes a choice: dignity or denial.</span></p><p><span>Shave it. Buzz it. Wear a hat. Get plugs. Buy a wig. Glue a peacock to your forehead. Nobody gives a fuck.</span></p><p><span>But this leathery, lacquered, spray-tanned sarcophagus chose to hot-glue what appears to be the freshly shampooed hindquarters of an elderly Shih Tzu to his skull and call it genetics.</span></p><p><span>Just think about the poor fucking bastard whose job this actually is. Imagine being Trump Hair Guy. Imagine explaining that career choice at Thanksgiving.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;So&#8230;what do you do?&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Well&#8230;every morning I reattach confidence to an eighty-year-old narcissist before Fox &amp; Friends.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Oh, you&#8217;re a therapist?&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;No. Much worse. I color-match synthetic pubes to industrial bronzer, secure them with enough adhesive to survive a tropical storm, and convince the president of the United States that the bleached asshole of a golden retriever reads as &#8216;natural volume.&#8217;&#8221;</span></p><p><span>There had to be a moment backstage: the stylist fluffing, spraying, tamping, squinting, presenting the mirror &#8212; then the long, bowel-tightening silence of one adult waiting to see whether another adult believes the thing suctioned to his scalp looks remotely biological.</span></p><p><span>And then the old fuck smiles.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Perfect.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Perfect?</span></p><p><a href="https://x.com/magadevildog/status/2085381380805218503?s=46&amp;t=0jhpxQw9pD9FCcEuf7-TIQ"><span>Motherfucker, this looks less like a hairstyle than evidence. CSI would place numbered markers around it. Animal Control would approach with a catchpole. The coroner would estimate time of death. A priest would be summoned, take one look, and quietly recommend cremation.</span></a></p><p><span>Donald Trump stared into that mirror, saw a pale, matted carcass making one final crawl toward his ear, and thought, &#8220;Nailed it.&#8221;</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg" width="1035" height="777" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/da34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:777,&quot;width&quot;:1035,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:111431,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210120808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Azb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda34e317-a998-4aa8-9a78-1bbc0df63714_1035x777.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>The staggering thing isn&#8217;t the rug. It&#8217;s the conviction &#8212; the industrial-strength certainty of a creature visibly deteriorating beneath seven separate cosmetic interventions who still believes he is projecting raw sexual dynamism, stepping beneath the lights with the swagger of a man expecting women to faint into the shrimp cocktail.</span></p><p><span>Dude, you do not look seductive. You look like a subpoena developed edema.</span></p><p><span>You do not look vigorous. You look like something a county assessor found unconscious inside a tanning booth.</span></p><p><span>You do not look younger. You look like somebody entered &#8220;wealthy cadaver, business casual&#8221; into an off-brand image generator and selected the version with extra hair.</span></p><p><span>And every spineless, sniveling, sycophantic, sphincter-polishing ass-kisser around him has to participate in the hallucination.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Sir, you look incredible.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Sir, completely natural.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Sir, twenty years younger.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Twenty years younger than what? The Dead Sea Scrolls?</span></p><p><span>Motherfucker, you look like the grand-prize entry in a church-basement taxidermy raffle judged by three widows on boxed wine.</span></p><p><span>Nobody nearby believes it. The only organism on Earth genuinely convinced that this glazed shag remnant erupted naturally from Donald Trump&#8217;s scalp is the swollen orange vanity blister underneath it.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s spent years manufacturing bogeymen out of drag queens reading children&#8217;s books and making up stories about teachers grooming kindergartners into becoming furries &#8212; and meanwhile this fucking cooked-shrimp colostomy bag shows up in Vegas looking like the world&#8217;s worst mashup of both.</span></p><p><span>But of course, for himself, there are no fucking limits. Paint the face. Cinch the torso. Elevate the heels. Reinforce the shoulders. Conceal the scalp. Spray, shellac, strap, stuff, squeeze, spackle, pad, paste, prop, powder, press, lacquer, laminate, and load-bearing-wall the whole bloated bundle until an eighty-year-old authoritarian marshmallow can lumber onstage identifying as a virile thirty-nine-year-old Manhattan sex panther.</span></p><p><span>That is gender-affirming care.</span></p><p><span>It just only counts when it affirms his gender.</span></p><p><span>When Donald wants two extra inches, the lifts are natural. When Donald wants a narrower waist, the girdle is tailoring. When Donald wants broader shoulders, the padding is genetics. When Donald wants a brand-new hairline delivered overnight like a replacement carburetor, the bleached pubic poncho is suddenly the lush, luxuriant, lineage-blessed follicular bounty of superior masculine genes.</span></p><p><span>But let somebody else ask to live honestly inside their own body and this cosmetically cross-braced, chemically colored, corseted old fraud suddenly discovers biology.</span></p><p><span>Nature handed you baldness, Donald. Nature handed you gravity. Nature handed you a body shaped like a sack of wet laundry slumped against a hotel ice machine.</span></p><p><span>You rejected all three.</span></p><p><span>Nobody would give a fuck if you simply admitted it. Wear the rug. Own the rug. Name the rug. Have the Marine Band play &#8220;Hail to the Hairpiece&#8221; every time the blond bastard enters a room.</span></p><p><span>The vanity isn&#8217;t the problem.</span></p><p><span>The fucking lie is the problem.</span></p><p><span>Donald Trump has spent his entire life demanding that everyone around him deny what their own eyes can plainly see: the debt, the decline, the crimes, the crowds, the losses, the lies, the weight, the weakness, the widening vacancy beneath that counterfeit cranial thatch.</span></p><p><span>The whole rotten presidency is sitting right there on top of his skull: cheap synthetic fiber sold as hereditary magnificence, obvious depletion disguised as abundance, and a bleached, bristling, bargain-bin pube pavilion passed off as the natural mane of a youthful fucking lion.</span></p><p><span>That is Trumpism reduced to its purest form: frightened, fawning, follicle-affirming fuckwits staring directly at an obvious fraud and competing to see who can flatter it most extravagantly.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Sir, tremendous volume.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Sir, astonishing density.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Sir, nobody has ever had hair like this.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Correct.</span></p><p><span>Nobody fucking has.</span></p><p><span>Because most people do not staple a strawberry-blonde church-lady s&#233;ance to their forehead, paint themselves the color of buffalo-wing sauce, strap on orthopedic elevator shoes, squeeze their abdomen into reinforced shapewear, and emerge convinced the total effect is youthful, commanding, and sexually catastrophic.</span></p><p><span>That is not confidence.</span></p><p><span>That is narcissism with a glue gun.</span></p><p><span>And there it fucking is. The entire diseased, delusional, democracy-devouring spectacle reduced to one perfect image: an insecure orange fraud trying to outrun a mirror while wearing his dead mother&#8217;s church swoop on his head.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp" width="360" height="240" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:240,&quot;width&quot;:360,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:9720,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/210120808?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!nvFw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe70cc62a-20c2-4bd0-83bd-175ec2fbb389_360x240.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>The wig isn&#8217;t the most embarrassing thing on Donald Trump.</span></p><p><span>It may actually be the most honest.</span></p><p><span>At least the wig admits it&#8217;s fucking fake.</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-F-mjl63e0ms" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;F-mjl63e0ms&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/F-mjl63e0ms?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>I love you guys! Stay safe out there, stay strong and stay the fuck away from whatever the hell is on Donald Trump&#8217;s head. &#128064;</p><p>&#128153; Jo</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-strawberry-blonde-merkin-of-state/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-strawberry-blonde-merkin-of-state/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-strawberry-blonde-merkin-of-state?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-strawberry-blonde-merkin-of-state?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[BFD LIVE with Tara and Jo! Is Judge Box of Wine Toast, Todd Blanche and more.]]></title><description><![CDATA[A recording from JoJoFromJerz's live video]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-is-judge</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-is-judge</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 21:00:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/209962436/a49649619e7063256b2b00a73f83cc11.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;LeftieProf&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:116079548,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@leftieprof&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/75d89751-a682-41b9-9c0a-0f4040553296_652x650.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;53acc568-0a49-432e-ac37-c50ac4433650&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Peter W Shuster&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:117154132,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@peteshuster&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ObOi!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F149c2f5b-48d2-4983-b29a-f00532d4c8c1_124x124.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;a3e7f919-2f2f-4afb-9001-bb2b04749351&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Noble Blend&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:21659563,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@recklesspress&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ab603f7f-c18c-40ed-a65b-ffee987c66b0_500x500.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;a7973d05-ddad-42fa-bf25-243443eb0c4b&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;James T Duffield&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:513977222,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@jemestduffield&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d94100e4-438e-4f8c-a2c4-c52ba3147418_750x750.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;8ae1dbf3-7c2e-43d5-9983-6df931afe976&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;IMPOed&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:155628850,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@impoed&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3ee4cacf-1961-4fba-8d30-720ea84738e2_619x619.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;e8c6a529-8bb0-434b-b3af-3e608e39070e&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-is-judge/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-is-judge/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" 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me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Give a gift subscription&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" 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type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp" width="640" height="384" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!8B4C!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0c30b2a7-e591-4e98-8f74-dbcc2547f362_640x384.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Donald Trump, that tapioca-brained dotard of digital derangement, spent the weekend melting the fuck down on his Temu Twitter, posting like the Ancient Aliens guy after finding crop circles in the White House carpet, and bragging about how eager Iran is to &#8220;make a deal&#8221; to end the &#8220;war that isn&#8217;t a war,&#8221; five-plus months, tens of billions of dollars, eighteen dead U.S. servicemembers, and more than 175 Iranian children and teachers later, in part because he desperately wants to smother any mention of his </span><a href="https://x.com/acyn/status/2072758203885211861?s=46&amp;t=0jhpxQw9pD9FCcEuf7-TIQ"><span>hand-picked, prickly-pear-margarita-pickled hatchet woman turning tail and running as far the fuck away as she could from the &#8220;Reflecting Pool vandal&#8221; scandal she personally made herself the public face of.</span></a></p><p><span>Of course, Iran says there aren&#8217;t any talks underway, there are no meetings scheduled, and nobody appears to have the slightest fucking idea what he&#8217;s talking about, but that has not stopped the cranial custard cup in orthopedic loafers from announcing another imaginary diplomatic breakthrough like he just solved the Middle East by moving two hotels around on a Monopoly board and eating the little metal cannon.</span></p><p><span>Because that&#8217;s what he does the second the load-bearing lie holding up his latest shit palace starts coughing screws and spitting nails.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>He points toward some unrelated catastrophe and uncorks a shrieking fugue about peace, perfect phone calls, beautiful deals, and whatever perfumed phantasmagoria is skittering across the linoleum of his brain.</span></p><p><span>Anything to keep you from looking down.</span></p><p><span>Because beneath the getaway bus, compressed between tire tread and asphalt, is Judge Box of Wine.</span></p><p><span>Jeanine Pirro didn&#8217;t merely get thrown under the bus.</span></p><p><span>Trump had her select the route, inspect the brakes, initial the maintenance log, top off the diesel, bless the lug nuts, buff the fucking bumper, and stand on the little painted X before he punched the accelerator and turned his headline-hungry, high-proof courtroom attack dog into a taxpayer-financed rumble strip.</span></p><p><span>Then he backed over her.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif" width="439" height="205" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!DM3j!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fef86697c-3262-4bc5-8383-5b711a32afe3_439x205.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Then Doug Burgum, who looks like the result of pouring Sam Eagle into a blender with Teresa Giudice&#8217;s hairline and a half-gallon of curdled goat milk, then leaving it on pur&#233;e until the machine developed a Chamber of Commerce membership and started asking whether your LLC had considered relocating to North Dakota, leaned out the passenger window and yelled that the first two passes looked &#8220;fantastic.&#8221;</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cwJl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a657e94-522c-4fea-9daf-edf74477c64e_1400x788.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>That man has the vacant, drywall-colored stare of someone who spent his formative years locked in a Cleveland basement closet being homeschooled by a dehumidifier and a laminated copy of Kiplinger&#8217;s Personal Finance, and even he understood the proper MAGA maneuver was to hold Pirro&#8217;s ankles beneath the axle and nod until somebody handed him a flag pin.</span></p><p><span>Burgum had canonized the workmanship for the cameras, co-signed the sabotage story, then disputed Pirro&#8217;s account that Interior withheld critical records, climbing into the wheel well to make sure his colleague remained good and fucking flattened.</span></p><p><span>And honestly, what in the ever-loving, ass-backward, gold-leafed fuck did she think was going to happen?</span></p><p><span>Loyalty to him is a gym membership for your dignity: the charges recur, cancellation is buried in malignant fine print, and by the time the monthly humiliation hits your statement, your credit score is in a drainage ditch wearing one of his campaign hats.</span></p><p><span>And let&#8217;s not confuse studio lacquer with legal gravitas here.</span></p><p><span>Jeanine Pirro is fundamentally a fucking cable talking head, a daytime-TV docket banshee whose principal credential was barking at plaintiffs in a fake plywood courtroom loudly enough for ad buyers to smell ratings through the wall.</span></p><p><span>Fox wasn&#8217;t paying for jurisprudence. It was underwriting the plastic-surgery capital-improvement plan attached to a law-degree-bearing foghorn because the yelling moved reverse mortgages, boner pills, commemorative coins, and freeze-dried buckets of apocalypse chili.</span></p><p><span>That was what Fox was fucking selling.</span></p><p><span>Volume, venom, varnish, and the vaguely judicial illusion that some merlot-misted mall harpy screaming LOCK HER UP into Camera Two constituted legal analysis.</span></p><p><span>She wasn&#8217;t plucked from an august marble chamber after a lifetime of rarefied scholarship and Solomonic discernment. She was a Nielsen-era relic with a rouge budget and the aerobic lung capacity to berate strangers through six commercial breaks without disturbing one immovable hair on that polyurethane pageboy helmet.</span></p><p><span>But it wasn&#8217;t her syndicated gavel diorama that made Trump decide SHE belonged in the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office, turning every damp little resentment dribbling down his chin into a subpoena, an indictment, or a federally funded fucking vendetta.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>It was her turn as a Fox panel pundit, night after night, with a penchant for sliding that forked, cabernet-shellacked tongue beneath his sad, saggy, sloppy, sweat-slicked undercarriage and fondling his underballs like two soft-boiled eggs sweating in a continental-breakfast steam tray.</span></p><p><span>She cooed, cackled, caped, and cable-news curtsied for him, polishing every delusion, lubricating every lunatic fantasy, and servicing his persecution complex with such slavish, spit-slicked assiduity you could practically hear the suction through the MyPillow spot.</span></p><p><span>Trump watched that prime-time tonsil detailing and thought:</span></p><p><span>There she is.</span></p><p><span>The woman who&#8217;ll do every filthy fucking thing I tell her from behind that federal seal.</span></p><p><span>Because of course he fucking did.</span></p><p><span>She carried his bullshit.</span></p><p><span>She shrink-wrapped it in legalese.</span></p><p><span>She marched it before a grand jury.</span></p><p><span>She planted herself at a DOJ podium and sold it with all the belligerent, bouffant-bobbing certitude of a woman who just found out bottomless brunch ended at two and demanded both the manager and the district attorney.</span></p><p><span>Then the contractor paper trail surfaced through the blue goo, revealed the vindictive, vanity-soaked jurisprudential clusterfuck it always was, split her case open from sternum to pelvis, arranged the organs beside the exhibits, and offered counsel a fucking visual aid.</span></p><p><span>The liner had started failing almost immediately, sloughing off the basin like even the paint wanted its name removed from the project. The file showed corner-cutting, repeated failures, blistering, overspray, poor bonding, and damage through the center of the pool, where no vandal leaning over the edge could have reached without Inspector Gadget arms, a snorkel, and a psychosexual vendetta against waterproofing.</span></p><p><span>Her own office finally admitted it could not pin the wreckage on vandalism, let alone prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.</span></p><p><span>Continuing would have meant marching into court with a case possessing the tensile strength of a communion wafer dropped into clam chowder and the olfactory profile of a bait bucket fermenting in the trunk of a rental Kia at Newark Airport over Labor Day weekend.</span></p><p><span>So she yanked the indictment and sprinted for the nearest procedural escape hatch, not because a conscience clocked in, but because the paperwork kicked the floor out from under her.</span></p><p><a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2084347344560992493?s=46&amp;t=0jhpxQw9pD9FCcEuf7-TIQ"><span>Then the bronzer-braised, blame-bellowing, senescent fuck dumpling, hunched over the Resolute Desk like a cooked shrimp forgotten beneath a buffet light, announced that Pirro had &#8220;choked&#8221; and &#8220;folded like an umbrella.&#8221;</span></a></p><p><span>Choked.</span></p><p><span>Not &#8220;I was wrong.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>And yes, the self-professed KING OF CONSTRUCTION admitted the contractor &#8220;was rushing&#8221; because they wanted it open by July 4, as though almost fifteen million of everyone else&#8217;s dollars disappearing into a panicked, half-cured botch is acceptable so long as it isn&#8217;t being squandered on something frivolous like feeding starving children.</span></p><p><span>Because in that case?</span></p><p><span>Not one red cent.</span></p><p><span>Call the lawyers.</span></p><p><span>Race to the Supreme Court.</span></p><p><span>The pool gets $14.7 million and permission to fail at highway speed.</span></p><p><span>The hungry kid gets an appellate brief explaining why dinner would be fiscally irresponsible.</span></p><p><span>Not &#8220;we indicted a sixty-seven-year-old man before anyone checked whether our theory was a fucking fairy tale wearing a Park Police badge.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>She choked.</span></p><p><span>When a reporter asked whether Pirro was on the chopping block, Trump called him fake news and ordered him never to talk again, because asking whether his freshly manufactured road aggregate still had a job now qualified as journalistic insurrection.</span></p><p><span>And apparently that question wasn&#8217;t just Oval Office cardio. The Wall Street Journal now reports Trump has discussed replacing her.</span></p><p><span>Naturally, the fucker has.</span></p><p><span>Ch&#226;teau Subpoena abandoned a climate-controlled broadcast berth and the network-funded preservation crew assigned to her face to become a convicted felon&#8217;s hired gun. She took his 350-foot pool psychosis, rolled it in statutory glitter, charged it as a felony, and nearly fed a former Olympian into the prison system because the self-coronated Colossus of Concrete couldn&#8217;t get a multimillion-dollar sheet of Bomb-Pop bathtub skin to adhere to the goddamn basin floor.</span></p><p><span>Those installation files left behind wet epoxy, obvious incompetence, and enough evidentiary decomposition to make the whole prosecution smell like a dead carp microwaved in the courthouse break room.</span></p><p><span>Pirro did the one thing no Trump employee is permitted to do.</span></p><p><span>She stopped lying before the lie had to survive cross-examination.</span></p><p><span>Before the dismissal ink dried, he was already measuring her office for the next supplicant while the wolves were still licking the bumper.</span></p><p><span>ETTD, Madame Malpractice.</span></p><p><span>Everything Trump Touches Dies.</span></p><p><span>He squeezed every usable drop of servility out of his high-gloss lamprey, peeled her off, slung her into traffic, and went pawing through the Justice Department clearance bin for another gargoyle with a cast-iron gag reflex and a moral center soft enough to smear onto a Saltine.</span></p><p><span>Useful on Friday.</span></p><p><span>A &#8220;choker&#8221; by Monday.</span></p><p><span>Replacement inventory before the fucking evening commute.</span></p><p><span>Jeanine Pirro traded a well-padded green-room sinecure for a job as his government-issued shiv. She torched the last splintered scrap of credibility she had left doing a felon&#8217;s bidding, and the moment she outlived her purpose, he vacuum-sealed her career and dropped it down the nearest political garbage compactor, then went sniffing around for another fool while the machinery was still chewing.</span></p><p><span>That is the full MAGA employee-benefits package.</span></p><p><span>Obsequiousness.</span></p><p><span>Humiliation.</span></p><p><span>Vehicular repudiation.</span></p><p><span>You spend years kissing the ring, sharpening the axe, and converting presidential paranoia into punitive pageantry, and your retirement gift is a Goodyear tramp stamp tattooed across your r&#233;sum&#233;.</span></p><p><span>Pirro wanted to be the blade in Trump&#8217;s hand.</span></p><p><span>Turns out she was the fucking cutting board.</span></p><p><strong><span>ADDENDUM: PACK YOUR SHIT</span></strong></p><p><span>Before I finished this last night, Judge Juice Box was photographed leaving the West Wing after meeting with Trump, dragging a briefcase and a separate white box behind her.</span></p><p><span>Come the fuck on.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg" width="1035" height="1135" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1135,&quot;width&quot;:1035,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:186299,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209707613?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!B6Gb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F26770bc2-7c7d-421c-991e-7bc5df83d3f1_1035x1135.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Hours after he called her a &#8220;choker,&#8221; mauled a reporter for asking whether she still had a job, and reportedly began shopping for her replacement, Merlot Matlock rolls out of the White House with the visual aid for PACK YOUR SHIT.</span></p><p><span>Maybe it held files.</span></p><p><span>Maybe it held industrial setting spray, emergency pinot, and the last shriveled cashew of her professional dignity.</span></p><p><span>Maybe it was routine. Routine, apparently, now means hauling your administrative cremains down the West Wing driveway while some freshly upholstered flunky upstairs is eating the emergency corn nuts from your desk, turning your Fox headshot toward the wall, and asking Facilities whether the ass groove in the chair is structural.</span></p><p><span>At this point, the little white box she hauled out of the West Wing probably has more job security than she does.</span></p><p><span>Oh well. She bought the motherfucking ticket, now she gets to ride the motherfucking ride.</span></p><p><span>Cheers, bitch.&#129346;</span></p><p><span>And with that, as we start the clock&#8230; today&#8217;s song(s):</span></p><div id="youtube2-rY0WxgSXdEE" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;rY0WxgSXdEE&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/rY0WxgSXdEE?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p><span>And one just for fun:</span></p><div id="youtube2-e_04ZrNroTo" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;e_04ZrNroTo&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/e_04ZrNroTo?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p><span>I love you guys!</span></p><p><span>Stay safe out there, stay strong, and stay connected to each other!</span></p><p>&#128153; Jo</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/from-underballs-to-under-the-bus/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/from-underballs-to-under-the-bus/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/from-underballs-to-under-the-bus?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/from-underballs-to-under-the-bus?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><p>And here&#8217;s a video I made a month ago about all of this endless stupid:</p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;4dc08b20-40cd-4616-aa1c-a09f4f61f119&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Remember When These Fuckers Died Denying Science To “Own The Libs”?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Now They Want You to Blame the Doctor. Because Of Course They Do.]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/remember-when-these-fuckers-died</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/remember-when-these-fuckers-died</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2026 16:27:49 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg" width="1456" height="819" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:819,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:393176,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pf_X!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4643bd7f-40f8-4887-89b6-b120e92c37cb_2400x1350.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Been raining cats and dogs all morning in Chicago, which is not great if your goal for the day was to track down the city&#8217;s best Italian beef, but it has allowed me to catch up on the news, including the Fauci &#8220;hearing,&#8221; and holy shit is that some next-level, profoundly, spectacularly 1984 fucked-up shit.</p><p>There they were, perched up on that dais, auditioning for the audience of one, badgering and browbeating and belittling a lifelong public servant through an hours-long knife fight over Fox clips.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg" width="860" height="573" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:573,&quot;width&quot;:860,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:77463,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XZGW!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa3f178d9-dc3b-42ec-9f0e-8b43b24ef5ed_860x573.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The same slobbering, science-denying, conspiracy-snorting, reality-resistant Republican cult that showed up at state capitols screeching that a fucking piece of cloth over their face was Auschwitz&#8230;</p><p>The same fact-fleeing, Fox-poisoned, freedom-cosplaying dipshits who treated basic public health like Stalin personally kicked in the garage door, stole the riding mower, drank straight from the milk jug, and walked off with the last of the horse paste&#8230;</p><p>The same crowing, casket-adjacent, cosmically confident chuckle fucks who called it a hoax in March, a Democrat plot in April, a nothing-burger in May, a cold in June, then buried their own fathers in October, all while standing shoulder to shoulder behind Donald Trump as he stalled, spun, stonewalled, contradicted his own experts, poisoned the public discourse with conspiracy and confusion, declared the virus &#8220;totally under control,&#8221; and then shrugged, &#8220;It is what it is,&#8221; the way you&#8217;d wave a fly off a coffin, while thousands of Americans were dying every goddamn day&#8230;</p><p>Now want you to believe the real villain&#8230;</p><p>&#8230;was Dr. Anthony Fauci.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Because this isn&#8217;t an exercise in truth.</p><p>It&#8217;s an exercise in distraction.</p><p>Pervert Hoover is polling where he was the week after January 6th. And the Epstein files aren&#8217;t going anywhere, no matter how many pages disappear between the vault and the podium.</p><p>When your presidency is hemorrhaging credibility in every direction, the easiest trick in the authoritarian playbook is to exhume an old enemy, build a new bonfire, and hope nobody notices the place burned to the fucking foundation while they convene a hearing to pin it on whoever kept telling them the smoke detector was chirping for a reason.</p><p>And I don&#8217;t blame Fauci for pleading the Fifth.</p><p>None of those spineless cuckholding shitweasels came looking for answers, because answers don&#8217;t clip. That was blood sport with a gavel, a pack of ratings-ravaged rat-hyenas circling for carrion. Whatever he said was going to be diced, deboned, and served up for the six o&#8217;clock feed anyway.</p><p>That&#8217;s what this hearing was.</p><p>Not oversight.</p><p>A diversion.</p><p>So, naturally&#8230;</p><p>Hey, look over here, troglodytes! Remember the MASKS OF TYRANNY!</p><p>The ones you&#8217;re perfectly happy with now, so long as they&#8217;re covering the mug of a failed mall-cop goon who shoots a mom in the face.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg" width="976" height="549" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:549,&quot;width&quot;:976,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:90373,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mSMg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F79ca2dba-020e-4278-b42c-0ae75cded920_976x549.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Because that&#8217;s how historical revisionism works.</p><p>When reality becomes politically inconvenient, you don&#8217;t answer for it.</p><p>You rewrite it.</p><p>George Orwell practically wrote the instruction manual for this shit.</p><p>&#8220;The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.&#8221;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif" width="320" height="235.63636363636365" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/f41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:162,&quot;width&quot;:220,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:132657,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!i2qw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff41be86b-aafd-42da-9a9d-609b28f71c65_220x162.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>That&#8217;s exactly what this is.</p><p>Reject what you saw.</p><p>Reject what you lived.</p><p>The refrigerated morgue trucks idling behind hospitals because the morgues had run out of room and the dead had to go somewhere. Nurses wearing garbage bags. Garbage bags. In the richest country on earth. FaceTime goodbyes between dying parents and children who would never get one last hug. A little kid on a sidewalk saying the last thing they&#8217;ll ever say to their mother through a stranger&#8217;s phone while a nurse mouths, I&#8217;m sorry. I have to go. Doctors and scientists begging for just a little more time. Hospitals overflowing. Medical workers working themselves to the point of collapse trying to save complete strangers.</p><p>And reject the fact that while all of that was happening, while doctors were rationing hope and nurses were rationing themselves&#8230;</p><p>He was tweeting.</p><p>He was whining.</p><p>He. Was. Golfing.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg" width="1024" height="887" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:887,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:180163,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-MHK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8989a2fb-8343-4c10-8326-6f4d93bb0db7_1024x887.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>When asked about the daily death toll, he didn&#8217;t promise urgency.</p><p>He didn&#8217;t promise leadership.</p><p>He looked into a camera and said:</p><p>&#8220;It is what it is.&#8221;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif" width="480" height="274" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:274,&quot;width&quot;:480,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1173031,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1Pd7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F810e6392-f435-4abc-b97f-e79198917e0f_480x274.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>For me, those weren&#8217;t just numbers on a screen or headlines scrolling across the bottom of the television.</p><p>They had names.</p><p>I was beside one of them when the phone rang.</p><p>My friend got the call that his father had died.</p><p>He was alone.</p><p>He couldn&#8217;t be there.</p><p>He never got to hold his father&#8217;s hand one last time.</p><p>He never got to say goodbye.</p><p>His father died.</p><p>He died alone.</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t a cold that killed him.</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t the flu.</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t a hoax.</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t a deep-state plot.</p><p>It wasn&#8217;t a vaccine. That&#8217;s for goddamn sure.</p><p>It was a virus.</p><p>A virus we could have gotten a fucking handle on if we hadn&#8217;t had an unhinged, evil, dim-witted, dirty-diapered toddler at the so-called helm, lying, delaying, deflecting, dodging responsibility, and listening to the dumbest fucking voices in the room while the people who actually knew what they were talking about begged him to act.</p><p>And he wasn&#8217;t just a vainglorious village idiot in an ill-fitting suit. He didn&#8217;t give a fuck. He still doesn&#8217;t. He is constitutionally, chemically incapable of it.</p><p>Death doesn&#8217;t register with him as grief or loss because nothing registers with Donald Trump unless it scratches the shellac on that eggshell ego, the only organ in that sagging, sputtering operation that has ever reliably functioned. Human suffering is just wallpaper to him, something to be talked over until it starts reflecting badly on the man in the mirror.</p><p>That legacy isn&#8217;t going anywhere. It&#8217;s welded to him now, riveted to his name like rust to iron, fused into his presidency the way smoke seeps into the beams of a burned-out house. No hearing, no revisionist rebrand, no convenient new villain dragged beneath the hot lights of a congressional committee is ever going to scrape it away.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>A century from now, historians won&#8217;t remember Anthony Fauci as the defining figure of the COVID pandemic. They&#8217;ll remember the president who met the worst outbreak in a century with vanity, venality, and vindictive self-preservation, who downplayed the danger, blurred the truth, and treated mass death as an inconvenient interruption to the endless infomercial of Donald Trump.</p><p>That wasn&#8217;t incompetence. It was depravity masquerading as governance, a grotesque fusion of narcissism and negligence that left American families mourning around kitchen tables while he obsessed over camera angles, cable news chyrons, and the fragile fiction he&#8217;d spent a lifetime telling himself.</p><p>And while all that noise poured out of the White House, Dr. Anthony Fauci kept doing the unfashionable, unglamorous, thankless work of explaining what the evidence actually showed, what the science actually said, and what Americans needed to hear if they were going to survive.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:113566,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QgVK!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6e8747c9-c829-4468-852d-da85e03f6947_2560x1707.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Science changes when new evidence arrives. It argues with itself. It tests itself. It throws out bad ideas, follows better evidence, and admits when it gets something wrong.</p><p>That&#8217;s not weakness.</p><p>That&#8217;s literally how knowledge fucking works.</p><p>The other side had a very different definition of &#8220;proof.&#8221; Some pus-dribbling, pulpit-pounding prophet livestreaming from a Silverado, every &#8220;fact&#8221; wrapped in seventeen exclamation points, RANDOMLY capitalized nouns, and a link to somebody&#8217;s cousin&#8217;s chiropractor&#8217;s Telegram channel where Bill Gates, chemtrails, fluoride, Jewish space lasers, and the barcode on your fucking bananas were conspiring to inject communist microchips into your bloodstream through a Q-tip.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg" width="800" height="533" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:533,&quot;width&quot;:800,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:195411,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZOGp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe7944487-7f7a-48c8-8ba7-0b1449caa1a3_800x533.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Because this is how dictators work.</p><p>They don&#8217;t need you to believe the truth.</p><p>They just need you to stop believing anyone who tells it.</p><p>They don&#8217;t fear ignorance.</p><p>They manufacture it.</p><p>Independent science is dangerous to despots because facts don&#8217;t kiss the ring.</p><p>Evidence doesn&#8217;t salute.</p><p>Data doesn&#8217;t care whose flag you&#8217;re waving.</p><p>Once the vaccine was free and everywhere, counties that voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump died at roughly double the rate of counties that didn&#8217;t.</p><p>Double.</p><p>A body count with a zip code.</p><p>They made the shot the bogeyman on the strength of absolutely fucking nothing. A MAHA lunatic in a mom group posting about shedding and magnets and spike proteins she couldn&#8217;t define at gunpoint, a praying-hands emoji wedged between a Bible verse and a discount code for her essential oils.</p><p>That is what they traded their fathers for.</p><p>They died denying science to &#8220;own the libs.&#8221; Face down in an ICU with a tube in their throat and their oxygen sliding lower by the hour, still thumbing out one more comment about how it&#8217;s just the flu. A whole legion of smooth-brained martyrs who would rather drown in their own lungs than agree with a Democrat about a molecule.</p><p>Yeah &#8212; you really got me there, Cletus.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg" width="310" height="163" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:163,&quot;width&quot;:310,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:20829,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/209388247?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5yhE!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F022f5f4a-09e2-4d53-a6bb-99ced9354823_310x163.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>99% of the motherfuckers running that hearing are triple vaxxed by the way. So is the Warp Speed windbag himself, who took his dose in secret, kept his mouth shut until a reporter dragged it out of him months later, then got booed off his own stage in Dallas for admitting he&#8217;d gone back for the booster. First in fucking line for the jab they want you to now believe was the real culprit.</p><p>Those lies didn&#8217;t just spread.</p><p>They filled cemeteries.</p><p>In the history of dumb fucking cults, this one is the fucking dumbest.</p><p>Of course they blamed the expert.</p><p>Of course they blamed the doctor.</p><p>And these are the same rage-rotted, radio-raised rubes standing up this week going see, look, it was the guy with all the letters after his name. The one urging caution. The one who said maybe don&#8217;t pack into a basement and breathe on your grandmother. He&#8217;s the tyrant. Lock him up. Haul him out to the town green, lash him to a stake, pile on the kindling, and if that doesn&#8217;t take, weigh him down with stones and pitch him in the pond, because if he floats that settles it, and if he sinks, well, the science was never really settled anyway.</p><p>Because if they can convince you that scientists are the enemy&#8230;</p><p>Doctors are the enemy&#8230;</p><p>Journalists are the enemy&#8230;</p><p>Judges are the enemy&#8230;</p><p>Then objective reality itself becomes the enemy.</p><p>And once reality is gone, all that&#8217;s left is obedience.</p><p>&#8220;Trust only me.&#8221;</p><p>Everyone else is lying.</p><p>That&#8217;s the whole fucking game.</p><p>And now these fuckers are running the identical con on January 6th, where a rabid mob that beat cops with flagpoles and hunted a vice president through the Capitol has been sanitized into &#8220;heroic,&#8221; &#8220;peaceful&#8221; &#8220;patriots.&#8221;</p><p>We&#8217;re not letting them launder one of the greatest &#8220;leadership&#8221; failures in modern American history into some bullshit fairy tale where the politicians become heroes and the scientists become villains.</p><p>We buried too many people.</p><p>We watched too much suffering.</p><p>We remember exactly who was begging Americans to face reality&#8230;</p><p>&#8230;and exactly who spent years teaching them to run from it.</p><p>They can rewrite speeches.</p><p>They can rewrite websites.</p><p>They can rewrite textbooks if we&#8217;re not paying attention.</p><p>But they don&#8217;t get to rewrite what the rest of us fucking lived through.</p><p>Not this time.</p><p>Not while we&#8217;re still here to tell the truth.</p><p>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</p><div id="youtube2-x2xfpMMQIJ8" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;x2xfpMMQIJ8&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/x2xfpMMQIJ8?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>I love you guys!</p><p>Heading back to Jersey today, so will be off-line most of the afternoon and evening!</p><p>Stay safe out there! Stay strong, and stay connected to each other!! </p><p><span>Thank you, Chicago, for being your warm, wonderful, welcoming self. Until we meet again&#8230; </span></p><p><span>And thank you to this incredible community. Because of your love and support, my kids and I got to experience something truly special together. I&#8217;ll carry that gratitude with me always. I love you all. &#10084;&#65039;</span></p><p><span>&#128153; Jo</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gjFm!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc8439f5-e181-41a5-90e7-1d50e33aa5a7_4031x3024.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gjFm!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc8439f5-e181-41a5-90e7-1d50e33aa5a7_4031x3024.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!gjFm!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcc8439f5-e181-41a5-90e7-1d50e33aa5a7_4031x3024.jpeg 848w, 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there ever been a bigger baby in the history of time?]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/donald-pass-the-buck-trump</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/donald-pass-the-buck-trump</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2026 23:42:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/208901602/21787add4ccabbf3c7e472833af5724c.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span>We&#8217;re more than five hundred and fifty goddamn days into Season Two of The Donald Trump Shit Show: five hundred and fifty rancid episodes of a renewal nobody with a frontal lobe, pulse, or functioning remote control fucking ordered.</span></p><p><span>More than five hundred and fifty days of Cabinet sycophants mistaking ass-kissing for a r&#233;sum&#233;, billionaire boot-lickers marinating in oligarch gravy, political whores and donor-purchased meat puppets who couldn&#8217;t organize a two-car funeral procession, an economy stapled together with tariff grease and warm bureaucratic sludge, foreign policy conducted like a drunk Craigslist handjob, and a Republican Congress so spineless, supine, and erotically devoted to voluntary vertebrae extraction it should come with satin pillows, a drool bib, and a little bedside bell.</span></p><p><span>Everything is going spectacularly, catastrophically, Titan-submersible wrong.</span></p><p><span>And yet&#8230; somehow&#8230; through a feat of chronological acrobatics so strenuous it would make a Cirque du Soleil contortionist rupture three discs and reconsider their career choices&#8230;</span></p><p><span>It is still Joe Biden&#8217;s fault.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wZ3P!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61218e00-512d-44fd-95d0-dcd900970a00_200x200.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wZ3P!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61218e00-512d-44fd-95d0-dcd900970a00_200x200.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wZ3P!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61218e00-512d-44fd-95d0-dcd900970a00_200x200.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wZ3P!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61218e00-512d-44fd-95d0-dcd900970a00_200x200.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wZ3P!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61218e00-512d-44fd-95d0-dcd900970a00_200x200.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wZ3P!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61218e00-512d-44fd-95d0-dcd900970a00_200x200.gif" width="320" height="320" 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fetchpriority="high"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Trump appoints another gloriously unqualified dipshit whose only discernible qualification is a willingness to clap like a trained seal every time the Great Orange Sleep Apnea Pumpkin waddles into the room?</span></p><p><span>You guessed it&#8230; Biden.</span></p><p><span>These are Trump&#8217;s judges. Trump&#8217;s Cabinet. Trump&#8217;s economy. Every screwup, every scandal, every own goal, every international humiliation, every bureaucratic tire fire bears his fingerprints like a wet slab of cement somebody staggered across on their way out of a bar.</span></p><p><span>And yet&#8230;</span></p><p><span>The economy? Joe Biden.</span></p><p><span>Grocery prices? Joe Biden.</span></p><p><span>Inflation running hotter than every other country in the G7 after Trump was handed one of the strongest recoveries on the planet? Somehow&#8230; Joe Biden.</span></p><p><span>Trump slaps tariffs on everything that isn&#8217;t bolted to the fucking floor, lights global supply chains on fire with a blowtorch and a Sharpie, and suddenly your eggs cost the GDP of a small island nation?</span></p><p><span>Joe. Fucking. Biden.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/depleted-munitions-missiles-stockpiles-trump-waltz-iran-war-contradictions"><span>Trump&#8217;s administration is emptying our weapons stockpiles by the warehouse, burning through interceptor missiles that cost millions of dollars apiece to knock Iranian drones and ballistic missiles out of the sky before they can turn an American base into a smoking crater?</span></a></p><p><span>Believe it or not&#8230;</span></p><p><span>Still Joe Biden.</span></p><p><span>At this point Donald Trump could back a golf cart into the Lincoln Memorial, declare war on the moon, appoint a decorative gourd as Secretary of Defense, and accidentally staple his own necktie to a Cabinet secretary, and within thirty-seven seconds some Republican congressman would sprint to the closest television camera, veins bulging like overcooked bratwurst, to explain that the real culprit here was Joe Biden.</span></p><p><span>Hell, Barack Obama still catches stray bullets from this asshole&#8217;s excuse factory. I&#8217;m genuinely surprised he hasn&#8217;t blamed Jimmy Carter for dropped calls, Abraham Lincoln for airline baggage fees, and Ulysses S. Grant for the fact that his Diet Coke keeps going flat.</span></p><p><span>Because the buck doesn&#8217;t stop with Donald Trump.</span></p><p><span>The buck files the paperwork to change its name, crosses state lines, assumes a half-dozen fake identities, and hires Todd Blanche to argue it never existed at all.</span></p><p><span>Remember during COVID, when that slack-jawed blame vacuum turned every White House briefing into another round of Presidential Pin the Blame on Literally Anybody Else.</span></p><p><span>China.</span></p><p><span>Democratic governors.</span></p><p><span>The media.</span></p><p><span>Anthony Fauci.</span></p><p><span>Blue states.</span></p><p><span>Windmills.</span></p><p><span>Anybody with a heartbeat and a name tag.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CUyJ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb9fcae-f1e5-4795-a7d7-0cf8acd913b1_480x264.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CUyJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb9fcae-f1e5-4795-a7d7-0cf8acd913b1_480x264.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CUyJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb9fcae-f1e5-4795-a7d7-0cf8acd913b1_480x264.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CUyJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb9fcae-f1e5-4795-a7d7-0cf8acd913b1_480x264.gif 1272w, 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CUyJ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb9fcae-f1e5-4795-a7d7-0cf8acd913b1_480x264.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CUyJ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb9fcae-f1e5-4795-a7d7-0cf8acd913b1_480x264.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CUyJ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb9fcae-f1e5-4795-a7d7-0cf8acd913b1_480x264.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CUyJ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6cb9fcae-f1e5-4795-a7d7-0cf8acd913b1_480x264.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Anybody except the wheezing, blame-hoarding huckster standing behind the presidential seal. That bloated, grievance-gargling gasbag. That self-pitying, self-fellating monument to unearned mediocrity and industrial-strength narcissism. The only man in recorded history who wants all the authority of the White House, all the applause, all the parades, all the credit, all the fucking paintings, but reacts to accountability the way a vampire reacts to sunlight.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s not leadership.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s a toddler wearing enough bargain-bin polyester to shade a county fair livestock pavilion who still thinks &#8220;I know you are, but what am I?&#8221; is a governing philosophy.</span></p><p><span>Has there ever been a bigger whiner? A more prolific pissbaby? A more decorated professional victim in the recorded annals of human civilization? Somewhere on the wall of a cave in France there&#8217;s a thirty-thousand-year-old painting of one hunter pointing at another guy after the mammoth got away, and even that prehistoric buck-passer would take one look at Donald Trump, rub some charcoal off his hands, and mutter, &#8220;Jesus Christ, man&#8230; just take the fucking L.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Not me.</span></p><p><span>Not mine.</span></p><p><span>I didn&#8217;t do it.</span></p><p><span>It was the other guy.</span></p><p><span>The election was stolen.</span></p><p><span>The virus came from somewhere else.</span></p><p><span>The economy would&#8217;ve been perfect if not for&#8230;</span></p><p><span>Fill in the fucking blank.</span></p><p><span>Because there&#8217;s always another villain. Always another sacrificial goat waiting patiently in the wings, powdered, pressed, and camera-ready for the moment this scapegoat-collecting bullshit artist needs a warm body to eat the fallout.</span></p><p><span>Donald Trump doesn&#8217;t solve problems.</span></p><p><span>He outsources blame.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s the one promise he&#8217;s never broken.</span></p><p><span>This is an eighty-year-old head of state. The President of the United States. And this&#8230; this is what passes for leadership in MAGA world: an overgrown fucking toddler who won&#8217;t cop to coloring all over the living room wall while he&#8217;s still standing there, diaper sagging under the gravitational pull of his own horseshit, clutching the fucking Sharpie in one fist and jabbing a finger at the babysitter with the other, swearing on his mother&#8217;s grave the dog learned cursive.</span></p><p><span>Leadership isn&#8217;t planting yourself behind a podium to gorge on applause when things go right and then vaporizing into a noxious fog of denials the second reality comes collecting its debt.</span></p><p><span>Leadership is ownership.</span></p><p><span>Leadership is possessing the vertebrae, the intestinal fortitude, the basic fucking decency to say, &#8220;This happened on my watch, and I&#8217;m responsible for fixing it.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Donald Trump treats accountability like it&#8217;s a process server carrying child-support papers and an IRS auditor with a battering ram rolled into one. The instant it lumbers into his ZIP code, he&#8217;s already halfway over the back fence, bathrobe flapping, hair meringue listing to port, shrieking, sniveling, sputtering, and blame-spewing into the night that it was China, or Joe Biden, or the fucking wind, leaving behind nothing but a banging screen door, a chemical contrail of Aqua Net and spray tan, and the unmistakable stench of cowardice marinated in cheap vanity.</span></p><p><span>He inherited an economy moving in the right direction the first time. He inherited an economy moving in the right direction the second time. Both fucking times, he wrapped those bruised, blotchy, burger-greased little mitts around the wheel, mashed the accelerator with all the foresight of a drunken lawn mower, and steered us straight toward the nearest fiscal fucking sinkhole.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s on him.</span></p><p><span>He owns every market convulsion, every boardroom anxiety attack, every supply-chain migraine, every economic aftershock flowing directly from the policies he chose.</span></p><p><span>He also owns an obscene share of our national debt. Across just a term and a half, he racked up roughly twenty-eight percent of all the red ink accumulated since the founding of the republic. In a nation that&#8217;s been keeping books since powdered wigs and quill pens.</span></p><p><span>He did that.</span></p><p><span>He owns that.</span></p><p><span>And yet&#8230;</span></p><p><span>Still Joe Biden.</span></p><p><span>Barack Obama is not the president. Joe Biden is not the president. Donald Trump is the president. The economy you&#8217;re living in today? That&#8217;s him. The appointments. The pardons. The purges. The priorities. The consequences. Every signature. Every wound he carved into this country himself.</span></p><p><span>His.</span></p><p><span>At some point the training wheels come off, the alibis expire, and you either govern or you don&#8217;t.</span></p><p><span>Unless your name is Donald Trump, in which case every disaster arrives with a laminated list of alternate suspects ready for whichever quivering, expendable toady draws the short straw and gets shoved in front of the cameras.</span></p><p><span>The buck never stops with Donald Trump.</span></p><p><span>It never even slows the fuck down.</span></p><p><span>If he stubs his fucking toe, it&#8217;s Joe Biden&#8217;s coffee table. If he bites his tongue, it&#8217;s Joe Biden&#8217;s teeth. If he gets a paper cut, it&#8217;s Joe Biden&#8217;s envelope.</span></p><p><span>I genuinely believe we are two weeks, three tops, from that incontinent insult to upholstery shitting his pants on a tarmac, staring down in bewilderment like his own ass just staged a coup, and demanding a congressional investigation into Joe Biden&#8217;s role in Operation Brown Thunder. There&#8217;ll be hearings. Fox will book a gastroenterologist. Jim Jordan will subpoena a pair of Dockers. Todd Blanche will insist the underwear was weaponized by the radical left.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg" width="1290" height="1186" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1186,&quot;width&quot;:1290,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:114916,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208901602?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1jfu!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd8f1e0e0-0e8b-4bba-937e-0e2fb743173b_1290x1186.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>That&#8217;s the whole fucking act. That&#8217;s always been the act. Whine. Deflect. Deny. Point. Lie. Repeat. Again. Again. Again. Decade after decade. Bankruptcy after bankruptcy. Casino after cratered casino. Scam after swindle after five-alarm fiasco. Like a carnival ride built out of excuses, grievance, and weapons-grade delusion.</span></p><p><span>Because accepting responsibility would require courage. Character. Humility. A working fucking conscience.</span></p><p><span>And that petulant, pusillanimous puddle of self-pity&#8230; that mendacious, meretricious mound of microwaved mortadella&#8230; that blubbering, blame-binging blob of bronzer and bullshit&#8230; has spent an entire lifetime trying to convince people that if you yell loudly enough, lie shamelessly enough, blame broadly enough, and whine relentlessly enough, courage becomes optional, character becomes negotiable, and accountability becomes somebody else&#8217;s fucking problem.</span></p><p><span>The presidency isn&#8217;t just about wielding power. It&#8217;s about carrying responsibility. The Resolute Desk isn&#8217;t famous because it&#8217;s pretty. It&#8217;s famous because it represents an idea: that when the job is yours, the buck stops here. Harry Truman didn&#8217;t put that placard on his desk because it matched the fucking drapes. He put it there because he wanted it staring him in the face every single morning. It wasn&#8217;t decoration. It wasn&#8217;t some tawdry made-for-TV prop. It was a promise. A burden. A daily admonition that there was nowhere else to dump the blame when history came hammering on the door.</span></p><p><span>Unless, apparently, you&#8217;re Donald Trump.</span></p><p><span>Because the buck never stops with Donald Trump.</span></p><p><span>It never has.</span></p><p><span>It never will.</span></p><p><span>Everything moving in the wrong direction right now belongs to Donald fucking Trump. The tariffs. The exploding grocery bills. The gas prices. The endless, unwinnable war with Iran. The measles outbreaks. The flesh-eating screwworm chewing through American livestock. The Salmonella recalls. The E. coli scares. Families choosing between rent and insulin. Parents wondering how they&#8217;re going to keep the lights on. Every diplomatic debacle. Every fiscal fuck-up. Every market-spooking, confidence-crushing, self-sabotaging catastrophe.</span></p><p><span>His.</span></p><p><span>Every fucking bit of it.</span></p><p><span>Not Joe Biden&#8217;s.</span></p><p><span>Not Barack Obama&#8217;s.</span></p><p><span>Not the media&#8217;s.</span></p><p><span>Not immigrants&#8217;.</span></p><p><span>Not the Federal Reserve&#8217;s.</span></p><p><span>Not some imaginary cabal of communist saboteurs, deep-state demons, Marxist mailmen, and mattress-monster boogeymen crouched under the fucking bed conspiring to ruin the most thin-skinned, self-canonizing crybaby ever to mistake inherited wealth for competence.</span></p><p><span>His.</span></p><p><span>And more than five hundred and fifty episodes into this second season, if he&#8217;s still blaming the last guy, the problem has been glaring back at him from the bathroom mirror the entire fucking time&#8230; peering through those swollen, slit-thin eyeholes, fussing with that seven-strand architectural fraud balanced on his scalp, pointing a stubby finger at somebody else, and, true to his entire fucking existence&#8230;</span></p><p><span>Blaming the glass.</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-sTMgX1PDGAE" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;sTMgX1PDGAE&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/sTMgX1PDGAE?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>I love you guys! Stay safe, stay strong and stay connected to each other!!</p><p>I&#8217;m taking the kids to Chicago for a couple of days to catch the Yankees play the Cubs, so I might be a little bit quiet on here for a minute, although I highly doubt I&#8217;ll be able to truly stay away! </p><p>&#128153; Jo</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/donald-pass-the-buck-trump/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/donald-pass-the-buck-trump/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/donald-pass-the-buck-trump?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/donald-pass-the-buck-trump?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jon Ossoff Is Really Fucking Good at This]]></title><description><![CDATA[Watch this man. Seriously.]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jon-ossoff-is-really-fucking-good</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jon-ossoff-is-really-fucking-good</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:30:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp" width="1456" height="970" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:970,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:92008,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208693230?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JsD5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3823c55-2e2f-41dc-b6aa-5491d39eb58b_2000x1333.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>This weekend I wrote about Donald Trump mocking Jon Ossoff&#8217;s appearance.</p><p>He called him &#8220;Pinky Herman.&#8221;</p><p><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/zKpXSrn7AGY?is=_zd1oelg2zBH067M">Which is hilarious for several reasons, beginning with the fact that he was trying to say Pee-wee Herman and somehow landed on the name of a retired riverboat locksmith who keeps loose Werther&#8217;s Originals in the same pocket as his fishing hooks.</a></p><p>But even if Donald had managed to drag the correct pop-culture reference out of the storage unit where his frontal lobe has been quietly accruing late fees since 1987&#8230;</p><p>Jon Ossoff?</p><p>That&#8217;s the guy you picked?</p><p>Motherfucker, you look like somebody found a CPR mannequin in the swamp behind a failed Margaritaville, filled its cheeks with gravy, and told it to say cheese.</p><p>Every photograph of you looks like your skin got a thirty-second head start and the rest of your face has been trying to catch up ever since.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg" width="1035" height="1100" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1100,&quot;width&quot;:1035,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:307763,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208693230?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pu83!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F74307b11-2fb0-44b5-b07f-c5f063aadc61_1035x1100.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Your whole head has the structural integrity of a jack-o&#8217;-lantern in mid-November, still on the porch, still grinning, three weeks past the point anyone could legally call it decoration.</p><p>You do not get to critique Jon Ossoff&#8217;s face.</p><p>The audacity isn&#8217;t just misplaced.</p><p>It&#8217;s fucking astronomical.</p><p>Maybe keep your opinions on other people&#8217;s faces in the same place you keep your tax returns.</p><p><em>Now, in the interest of intellectual consistency, I should probably admit that I did spend an entirely unreasonable amount of time this weekend pontificating on the fact that Jon Ossoff is extremely easy on the eyes.</em></p><p>Because he is.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg" width="447" height="447" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:447,&quot;width&quot;:447,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:30408,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208693230?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2e7z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1d0e1981-9aee-48eb-a180-bbc12339ab78_447x447.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The man looks like Clark Kent disappeared into the Pacific Northwest for six weeks, learned to bake bread, started composting recreationally, and came back with impossibly good posture and a working knowledge of municipal bond financing.</p><p>He looks like Gregory Peck&#8217;s devastatingly well-read grandson, the one who repairs antique fountain pens on Sunday afternoons, owns exactly three sweaters, volunteers at the no-kill Shiba Inu rescue and somehow always smells faintly of cedar, bergamot, and a first edition.</p><p>He looks like the handsome widowed English professor in a Nancy Meyers movie who invites me to lunch beneath a sprawling oak tree, uncorks a bottle of wine from a tiny Tuscan vineyard whose owner still calls him &#8220;Gionatan,&#8221; slices into a still-warm rosemary olive loaf wrapped in a linen towel, and then starts reading Pablo Neruda while dragonflies skim the creek and a church bell rings somewhere in the distance.</p><p>&#8230;</p><p><em>Sorry.</em></p><p><em>Anyway&#8230; where the hell was I?</em></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif" width="400" height="212" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xUnb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fad1ac0f8-047f-4c6d-86a4-1fb488b99e65_400x212.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Right.</p><p>Democracy.</p><p><em>Jesus Christ, woman, pull yourself together.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Jon Ossoff isn&#8217;t compelling because he&#8217;s handsome.</p><p>He&#8217;s compelling because he doesn&#8217;t seem remotely interested in reminding you that he is.</p><p>And before anybody mistakes this for a 2028 endorsement, we&#8217;re nowhere near that conversation. Democrats have an embarrassment of riches. Pete Buttigieg. Chris Murphy. Wes Moore. Gavin Newsom. There are so many intelligent, incisive, impressively capable people who could make formidable cases for themselves that pretending the field has already sorted itself out would be malpractice.</p><p>What I am saying is this&#8230;</p><p>He was seemingly born to run for the presidency in this moment.</p><p>As if somewhere, hidden in a dusty corner of the universe between common sense and unicorns, sits a magician&#8217;s hat reserved exclusively for manufacturing nearly perfect political candidates.</p><p>Into it go little slips of paper.</p><p>Intelligent.</p><p>Articulate.</p><p>Meticulous.</p><p>Relentless.</p><p><strong>Young</strong>.</p><p>Then somebody gives the hat two deliberate taps with a wand, mutters abracadabra&#8230;</p><p>&#8230;and out steps Jon Ossoff, straightening a cufflink and asking if anyone has the briefing materials.</p><p>Which sounds whimsical right up until you watch the man question a witness under oath.</p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/2urvZLmlBNU?is=aRINjLlJ_pDkWguF">Because in committee hearings, he is fucking lethal.</a></p><p>Not loud.</p><p>Not florid.</p><p>Not flinging his arms around like a substitute youth pastor trying to explain crypto to the congregation.</p><p>He asks one clean question.</p><p>Then another.</p><p>Then another.</p><p>Each one clicks into place with the patient, implacable precision of a lock turning inside a vault until the witness realizes the exits have disappeared and all that remains is the truth, the transcript, and the slow, almost audible sound of their own credibility hemorrhaging onto the carpet.</p><p>Listen to the architecture of his language.</p><p>Last week, standing behind the pulpit at Berean Baptist Church, he said:</p><p>&#8220;The price of admission to the president&#8217;s service seems to be proof that you&#8217;re willing to lie for him.&#8221;</p><p>Not a wasted word.</p><p>And then he started stacking the proof, reminding the congregation of Pete Hegseth refusing to recant his lies about the war and Jay Clayton, sitting under oath, refusing again and again to acknowledge that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, before arriving at the line that had been quietly gathering weight the entire time:</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s something uniquely despicable about lying a nation into war, treating citizens as fools.&#8221;</p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;1998982b-df6f-4319-aa1a-1204c256395e&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><h6>^<span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Aaron Rupar&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:696120,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fd19a0e3-6836-47e9-90ea-b050da2eb5ad_261x261.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;42c6dfd6-02da-46be-81bc-5a73271f3a6d&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span></h6><p>He also drew the straight line so many politicians either can&#8217;t or won&#8217;t draw. As your rent went up, so did Donald Trump&#8217;s bullshit ballrooms. As millions worried about losing their health coverage, he worried about crystal chandeliers and gilded grandeur.</p><p>Because politics doesn&#8217;t stay in Washington.</p><p>It migrates.</p><p>Into grocery aisles.</p><p>Into checking accounts.</p><p>Into medicine cabinets.</p><p>Into the quiet arithmetic of ordinary people&#8217;s lives.</p><p><a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/2081439016310755490?s=46&amp;t=0jhpxQw9pD9FCcEuf7-TIQ">Then he reminded Georgia, and the country, that only one man attempted election fraud there in 2020.</a></p><p>Donald Trump.</p><p>The desperate, dead-eyed grifter who called Brad Raffensperger and demanded the exact number of votes he needed to overturn the will of the people.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg" width="1290" height="822" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ny8i!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46f411f2-e6ba-45f2-935b-d3745b5f3fc8_1290x822.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Ossoff says accountability is coming.</p><p>And that&#8217;s why listening to him feels cathartic.</p><p>Not because he&#8217;s shouting louder.</p><p>Not because he&#8217;s meaner.</p><p>Because after years of living beneath the relentless rotting smog of that vindictive, venal vulgarian, after years of waking up every morning wondering which constitutional custom, democratic norm, or centuries-old safeguard was about to be sacrificed on the altar of one man&#8217;s appetites before lunch, simple moral fucking clarity feels medicinal.</p><p>The lying.</p><p>The looting.</p><p>The lunacy.</p><p>Do you remember what it felt like before all of that? Being spoken to like an adult? Being trusted with a complete sentence?</p><p>Like finally throwing open the windows in a room wallpapered with stale cigar smoke, burnt coffee, damp carpet, and the sour, metallic fug of something quietly short-circuiting behind the walls, only to remember your lungs were always supposed to feel like this.</p><p>Nobody is coming to save us.</p><p>Democracy has never worked that way.</p><p>We&#8217;re the ones who have to save it.</p><p>Always have been.</p><p>But if we&#8217;re fortunate enough to have a free, fair, legitimate election in 2028, Jon Ossoff is absolutely someone I&#8217;ll be watching.</p><p>Because while so many others seem hell-bent on convincing us leadership is measured in decibel levels, dopamine hits, bombast, bluster, and the perpetual performance of outrage&#8230;</p><p>He keeps reminding me that leadership has never been about occupying every inch of the room.</p><p>Sometimes it&#8217;s about becoming the one person everyone else finally goes quiet to hear.</p><p><em>Also&#8230; about that oak tree&#8230; &#128520;</em></p><p>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</p><div id="youtube2-IxuThNgl3YA" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;IxuThNgl3YA&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/IxuThNgl3YA?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>I love you guys!! Thank you so much for your incredible support! Your response to my last piece just blew me away!! It really means the world to me!</p><p>This community means everything to me!</p><p>Stay safe out there, stay strong and stay connected to each other!</p><p>&#128153; Jo</p><p>And just for shits and giggles, here&#8217;s a bonus video:</p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;50c064c2-6579-4dc4-b6e0-87fd3063b3c1&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jon-ossoff-is-really-fucking-good/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a 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f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Fourth Estate Forgot to Stand the Fuck Up]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Correspondents&#8217; Dinner Was a Black-Tie Surrender]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-fourth-estate-forgot-to-stand</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-fourth-estate-forgot-to-stand</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 25 Jul 2026 20:05:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg" width="1200" height="800" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/e38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:118193,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208482764?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!A2xI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe38033a5-648d-4685-a95a-273964df4e73_1200x800.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>I was going to write about Donald Trump mocking Jon Ossoff&#8217;s looks.</span></p><p><span>Because of course he fucking did.</span></p><p><span>I was fully prepared to spend the next eleven hundred words reminding the world that there is a level of confidence found only in aggressively average white men who have failed upward their entire fucking lives and housecats who launch your favorite drinking glass off the kitchen counter, maintain eye contact the entire time, and then stroll away like they just solved world hunger.</span></p><p><span>I was ready to unpack the staggering, reality-defying, almost Old Testament level of arrogance required for a solipsistic sack of shit who looks like a HoneyBaked ham that spent three humid weeks floating face-down in the stagnant pond outside a shuttered catering hall before somebody dragged it out with a landscaping rake and shellacked it with aerosol cheddar to decide another human being&#8217;s appearance was fair game.</span></p><p>This is a man whose face looks like a taxidermist rage-quit halfway through and left the invoice on the carcass. His skin has the damp, collapsing texture of a motel pancake. His cheeks sag like overstuffed grocery bags, his lips look stapled on by a drunk carnival worker, and his eyes have the glossy panic of two boiled onions trapped behind aquarium glass.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>The whole thing resembles a wax figure left beside a space heater in a room that smells aggressively of feet. Like someone tried to rebuild an antique catcher&#8217;s mitt using expanding foam, expired mayonnaise, and a personal grudge. Like an animatronic Thanksgiving turkey that woke up, looked in the mirror, and immediately started lying to children.</p><p><span>And yet this fucking guy looked at Jon Ossoff, one of the most objectively handsome men in the Senate, and thought, *Yeah&#8230; I&#8217;m the one who should be critiquing faces.*</span></p><p><span>The confidence isn&#8217;t just unearned.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s fucking hallucinatory.</span></p><p><span>Trust me. I have thoughts (little bonus at the end).</span></p><p><span>But last night changed the assignment.</span></p><p><span>He wasn&#8217;t the story anymore.</span></p><p><span>Because what unfolded at the White House Correspondents&#8217; Association dinner wasn&#8217;t merely another harangue. Not just another bile-spew. Not another grievance-gargle. Not another fact-crematorium where reality gets shoveled into the furnace and reduced to cinders while half the country applauds the smoke.</span></p><p><span>God knows we&#8217;ve all survived enough of those linguistic landfill fires to recognize one from low Earth orbit.</span></p><p>We&#8217;ve all seen <em>that</em> shit show before.</p><p><span>Don&#8217;t get me wrong&#8230; his speech/psychotic episode was a fucking catastrophe. Forty-odd minutes of untreated id and teleprompter contempt, mistaking volume for wit and cruelty for comedy, one dead &#8220;punchline&#8221; after another hitting the room with all the joyous anticipation of a colonoscopy prep kit.</span></p><p><span>He took a swing at a senator&#8217;s face. He relitigated an election. He recited the same threadbare inventory of grudges he&#8217;s been hauling around since the escalator. And somewhere in the back half he floated the notion that two terms is less a hard ceiling than an opening bid, and the sound that came back was a laugh with its hands up.</span></p><p><span>But that&#8217;s almost beside the point.</span></p><p><span>This was something infinitely more disturbing.</span></p><p><span>This wasn&#8217;t just normalization.</span></p><p><span>It was acquiescence wearing patent leather shoes.</span></p><p><span>It was institutional capitulation starched, pressed, perfumed, and tuxedoed, seated beneath enough crystal to illuminate a minor monarchy, smiling on cue while the load-bearing beams of a constitutional republic were quietly unscrewed one canap&#233;, one engraved place card, one exquisitely rehearsed chuckle at a fucking time.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>This was the American press. The perpetual target this putrescent parody of a president has spent a decade vilifying, demonizing, threatening, suing, mocking, and branding the enemy of the people. Convened in black tie, smoothing linen napkins across their laps, exchanging genteel pleasantries between courses, murmuring their approval, politely tapping their hands together, while the President of the United States once again stood before them and publicly degraded the craft they had ostensibly gathered to celebrate.</span></p><p><span>There they sat.</span></p><p><span>The roomful of preening, posture-polishing pussies.</span></p><p><span>Grinning.</span></p><p><span>Simpering.</span></p><p><span>Applauding.</span></p><p><span>The soft percussion of silver against porcelain. Another waiter gliding noiselessly between tables. Another fucking course arriving precisely on schedule. The whole well-oiled machinery of civility humming along as though nothing were being defiled in the middle of the room.</span></p><p><span>The applause wasn&#8217;t the scandal.</span></p><p><span>The ease of it was.</span></p><p><span>He didn&#8217;t normalize the ritual humiliation of journalism last night.</span></p><p><span>The guests demonstrated that particular Rubicon had been crossed years ago, one black-tie gala, one access-preserving handshake, one case of Bordeaux at a fucking time.</span></p><p><span>As an American, as someone who majored in communications, as someone who grew up believing journalism was one of the last sacred callings in a democracy&#8230;</span></p><p><span>That shit made me fucking sick.</span></p><p><span>Because the free press is not some ornamental flourish bolted onto the Constitution to make it look pretty. It isn&#8217;t decorative trim. It isn&#8217;t architectural garnish. It&#8217;s the goddamn foundation. Chip away at it long enough, and sooner or later the whole magnificent, improbable, blood-bought experiment begins collapsing into its own fucking basement.</span></p><p><span>The histrionic halfwit understands that.</span></p><p><span>He attempts to kneecap every independent body capable of scrutinizing him, because authoritarians don&#8217;t merely dislike accountability.</span></p><p><span>They regard accountability as a fucking pathogen.</span></p><p><span>And yet there they all were.</span></p><p><span>Smirking.</span></p><p><span>Mingling.</span></p><p><span>Nibbling.</span></p><p><span>Trading business cards.</span></p><p><span>The roomful of lapel-straightening lickspittles and access-addicted ass-kissers, enacting the delicate choreography of Washington respectability, pretending this craven, cocktail-clutching charade was simply another stop on the capital&#8217;s annual social calendar instead of a historical fucking obscenity unfolding around them.</span></p><p><span>The juxtaposition was almost too warped to comprehend.</span></p><p><span>Awards honoring courageous journalism were handed out under the very same chandeliers where the tangerine-tinted tyrant who has devoted the better part of ten years to discrediting, disemboweling, and delegitimizing every reporter stubborn enough to keep asking inconvenient questions delivered yet another broadside against the assembled press.</span></p><p><span>Consider the staggering feat of moral compartmentalization required to celebrate fearless reporting about a corrupt and craven administration while politely applauding the corpulent charlatan who has made a second career out of punishing the bylines behind it. </span></p><p><span>The same swaggering sociopath who has labored tirelessly to convince millions of Americans that journalists are liars, criminals, traitors, and enemies of the people.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s like holding a gala honoring firefighters while the fucking arsonist delivers the keynote.</span></p><p><span>Look, nobody was expecting V&#225;clav Havel to leap onto a chair, Lech Wa&#322;&#281;sa to start organizing the waitstaff, and the Velvet Revolution to break out before coffee was served.</span></p><p><span>But couldn&#8217;t they have at least just gotten the fuck up?</span></p><p><span>Couldn&#8217;t they have walked the fuck out?</span></p><p><span>Couldn&#8217;t they have listened to another barrage of lies, racist bile, sexist bullshit, playground insults, ugly cheap shots, vindictive grievances, and despotic sneering and finally decided, *You know what? Fuck this.*</span></p><p><span>Grabbed a couple bottles of wine off the table.</span></p><p><span>Collected what little self-respect remained in that ballroom.</span></p><p><span>And walked the fuck out.</span></p><p><span>Would that really have been so fucking impossible?</span></p><p><span>Couldn&#8217;t that audience have demonstrated, if only silently, that there remains some inviolable line beyond which the methodical demolition of a free press ceases to qualify as acceptable dinner entertainment?</span></p><p><span>How the fuck did the American media just sit there while that psychotic shitstain strutted to the podium and once again vomited the same malignant little vaudeville of venom and victimhood?</span></p><p><span>An emptying of that hall would&#8217;ve echoed around the world.</span></p><p><span>It would&#8217;ve reminded every aspiring autocrat, every tin-pot strongman, every power-drunk potentate watching that there are still newsrooms unwilling to applaud their own public abasement.</span></p><p><span>Apparently fucking not.</span></p><p><span>Instead, the banquet resumed its stately procession.</span></p><p><span>Another address.</span></p><p><span>Another course.</span></p><p><span>Another round of applause.</span></p><p><span>Another small surrender, so immaculately mannered it passed for etiquette.</span></p><p><span>And these are the people we&#8217;re supposed to trust to serve as the Fourth Estate?</span></p><p><span>The people entrusted to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.</span></p><p><span>To hold power accountable.</span></p><p><span>If they couldn&#8217;t even bring themselves to stand up and leave the room while the megalomaniacal motherfucking madman working to dismantle their credibility, their vocation, and their very reason for existing loomed a few feet away performing that desecration in real time&#8230;</span></p><p><span>What exactly are they asking the rest of us to believe they&#8217;ll stand up for?</span></p><p><span>Because they&#8217;re supposed to stand between power and the people.</span></p><p><span>If the guardians of the gate won&#8217;t even leave the banquet when the barbarians are seated at the head table&#8230;</span></p><p><span>What the fuck exactly are they guarding?</span></p><p><span>If that&#8217;s the Faustian bargain.</span></p><p><span>If access is purchased with silence.</span></p><p><span>If a seat at the table costs you courage&#8230;</span></p><p><span>Then it sure as fuck isn&#8217;t the rest of us.</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-i5txwFv-zYM" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;i5txwFv-zYM&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/i5txwFv-zYM?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>And as a bonus &#8212; here&#8217;s that little blurb about Donald Trump mocking someone else&#8217;s looks:</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg" width="1035" height="1100" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1100,&quot;width&quot;:1035,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:307763,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208482764?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!E_te!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fac3c0446-9e36-450a-aa2b-06739b4d2a0f_1035x1100.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Donald Trump &#8212; that saggy, sloppy, saccharine-stuffed, deck-stain-slicked, stupid, sad, sorry, senile fat ugly fuck &#8212; had the audacity to mock Jon Ossoff&#8217;s looks.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp" width="1456" height="1092" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/bf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1092,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:123144,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208482764?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1eZ3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbf469950-1a84-423e-a38c-aaaace14993b_1920x1440.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Are you fucking kidding me.</span><br><span>Jon Ossoff. The man looks like peak Gregory Peck walked out of a courtroom in 1962 and into the United States Senate. Atticus Finch with a filibuster.</span></p><p><span>And YOU &#8212; you fucking waterlogged colostomy bag with a spray tan &#8212; you looked in a mirror at some point this week, survived it, and then said ANOTHER man was ugly?</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg" width="1290" height="822" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!RW7Z!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd9cdeb8d-b2e4-4314-b156-9709ddecf2d9_1290x822.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>LOOK AT THIS FUCKING PHOTO.</span></p><p><span>Your skin looks like a sunburned scrotum stretched over a beach ball. It&#8217;s got the texture of a deep-fried catcher&#8217;s mitt. You are ORANGE in places and GRAY in others like a fucking creamsicle left in a morgue.</span></p><p><span>And it only gets worse going south, because that melted, flaccid, flabby fucking FUPA you keep where a chin should be is swallowing your own goddamn face. Your jowls have jowls. Your wattle needs its own security clearance. When you turn your head, it takes your neck a full business day to catch up.</span></p><p><span>All of this crumbling real estate sits underneath a sad, spun-sugar swirl of seventeen surviving strands, sprayed into a fucking meringue of denial, flapping in the wind like the last flag on a sinking ship of shit.</span></p><p><span>And that&#8217;s just the face. Those bruised, blotched hands look like they lost a fight with an embalmer. That right leg drags behind you like it&#8217;s trying to file for asylum. You can&#8217;t walk down a ramp, you can&#8217;t grip a water glass, and you cannot &#8212; CANNOT &#8212; stay awake while a rotunda full of grown men slobber all over you like you&#8217;re the last hog at the trough.</span></p><p><span>They&#8217;re fellating you in real time on C-SPAN and you&#8217;re doing the head-bob. Your body is quitting in installments and the staff is just painting over the water damage.</span></p><p><span>You squint through those puffy, pissed-shut eye slits &#8212; through a face that looks like it&#8217;s being slowly reclaimed by gravy &#8212; and YOU decided to talk about LOOKS?</span></p><p><span>You look like a thumb with gout. A swollen, throbbing, angry fucking thumb with gout that somebody wrapped in a pontoon boat tarp and propped up behind a podium.</span></p><p><span>You are a rotting, wretched, repulsive rectal wart of a man, and Jon Ossoff is what your sons see in their nightmares &#8212; tall, hot, and honest.</span></p><p><span>So, you can take your saggy ass &#8212; that vast, veiny, vinegar-soaked expanse of curdled cellulite sloshing around back there like a trash bag full of clam chowder &#8212; sit it the fuck down, and never again presume to judge another person&#8217;s appearance, you decomposing fucking disgrace.</span></p><p><span>I love you guys!</span></p><p><span>Stay safe out there, stay strong and stay connected to each other!</span></p><p><span>I know times are hard. I know money is tight. A bunch of folks have been ending their paid subscriptions, and I completely understand. Believe me, I do.</span></p><p><span>This work doesn&#8217;t just help sustain my little family of three.</span></p><p><span>It has sustained me.</span></p><p><span>It has fed my soul in ways I honestly never imagined possible, and that&#8217;s because of this community. You have given me purpose, laughter, friendship, hope, and a place to pour all of this love, rage, grief, and determination that would&#8217;ve had nowhere else to go.</span></p><p><span>So my work will remain free, just as it always has, in the hope that when life gets a little easier, some of you will find your way back.</span></p><p><span>And if you can&#8217;t, that&#8217;s okay too.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;m just grateful you&#8217;re here.</span></p><p><span>&#128153; Jo</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-fourth-estate-forgot-to-stand/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-fourth-estate-forgot-to-stand/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-fourth-estate-forgot-to-stand?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-fourth-estate-forgot-to-stand?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Gold Lamé Caligula Strikes Again.]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Executive Branch of Bed Bath & Beyond.]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/gold-lame-caligula-strikes-again</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/gold-lame-caligula-strikes-again</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:30:19 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span>In case you missed it &#8212; Dan &#8220;Pampers on the Back Nine&#8221; Scavino proudly posted a new video of the Oval Office this week, and I swear to God it looks less like the office of the President of the United States and more like the inside of a Faberg&#233; egg that caught gonorrhea in the back room of a strip mall nail salon.</span></p><div class="native-video-embed" data-component-name="VideoPlaceholder" data-attrs="{&quot;mediaUploadId&quot;:&quot;d11ba5e8-45ee-41a1-a661-73f104a7af99&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:null}"></div><p><span>There is so much &#8220;gold&#8221; glued onto every available surface it looks like King Midas wandered into Hobby Lobby during a manic episode and nobody had the courage to take his rewards card away.</span></p><p><span>Every wall has another unnecessary flourish. Every shelf is sagging under the weight of some gilded little monstrosity. Every horizontal inch is occupied by decorative nonsense that looks like it was handed out at a dictator&#8217;s funeral or included free with a petrostate arms deal.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s less interior design than a royal wedding cake, a mafia dentist&#8217;s waiting room, and a cursed Sims build collided at high speed.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>And the model airplanes.</span></p><p><span>Sweet Christ, the model airplanes.</span></p><p><span>They&#8217;re scattered around the room like somebody knocked over the display case at an authoritarian aviation expo and nobody bothered cleaning it up.</span></p><p><span>It doesn&#8217;t feel like the Oval Office anymore.</span></p><p><span>It feels like Versailles got roofied by Temu, woke up in a neon-lit massage parlor off I-95 wearing a fake Rolex, then decided the only responsible next step was to marry the lobby of a Dubai card room in a ceremony officiated by a deranged parrot in a sequined tracksuit.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s not elegant.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s not stately.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s what would happen if Liberace died owing money to Saddam Hussein, the estate sale was sponsored by SkyMall, judged by Guy Fieri, and catered exclusively by people who describe edible gold leaf as &#8220;a neutral.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>The Oval Office used to project confidence.</span></p><p><span>Now it projects the unmistakable energy of a man who walks into HomeGoods, points at literally everything that sparkles, and whispers, &#8220;Yes.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Every.</span></p><p><span>Single.</span></p><p><span>Thing.</span></p><p><span>The room doesn&#8217;t look powerful.</span></p><p><span>It looks like taste lost a custody battle.</span></p><p><span>And that&#8217;s the &#8220;restrained&#8221; part of the property.</span></p><p><span>Because what Donald Trump is doing to the White House isn&#8217;t restoration.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s desecration with a building permit.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s the kind of aesthetic felony you&#8217;d expect from a failed casino landlord with a God complex, a QVC addiction, and a suit that somehow manages to look both flammable and like it was tailored from the cover of an above-ground pool.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg" width="1456" height="971" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Zzdf!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cd5c172-9146-4884-889e-2acd590ef4c5_4000x2667.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>He isn&#8217;t preserving history.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s slapping his stupid fucking name across it like every other building he&#8217;s ever mistaken for a mausoleum.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s treating the White House the way a hedge fund treats a beloved neighborhood diner. Rip out everything with character, replace it with polished bullshit, jack up the rent, and act like you&#8217;ve created value because now the faucets are gold.</span></p><p><span>Every change feels like it was approved by a committee consisting of a Russian oligarch, a Vegas wedding chapel, a guy who thinks Scarface was a decorating show, and the regional manager of every Trump gift shop in America shrieking, &#8220;MORE! I CAN STILL SEE DRYWALL!&#8221;</span></p><p><span>This isn&#8217;t preservation.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s heritage laundering.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s turning the People&#8217;s House into the presidential equivalent of a luxury hookah lounge above a payday loan office.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp" width="1200" height="800" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:800,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:84388,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208226511?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!NdxM!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b9fd283-934b-4f2e-b946-a15025bbfa6d_1200x800.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>The White House used to carry the quiet gravity of history.</span></p><p><span>Now it screams, &#8220;The shrimp tower is complimentary if you lose more than five grand.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>This isn&#8217;t patriotism.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s a golden goose-stepping makeover brought to you by gout, delusion, and Overstock.com.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s Graceland redesigned by a cryptocurrency millionaire with a bacterial infection.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s the architectural embodiment of erectile dysfunction commercials shot inside a pharaoh&#8217;s Orlando timeshare.</span></p><p><span>And somehow, against every law of God and physics, he looked at all of that and thought:</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Needs more gold.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>The White House.</span></p><p><span>Our house.</span></p><p><span>And this motherfucker is gutting it room by room.</span></p><p><span>Inside, the Oval Office now looks like somebody let a cruise ship buffet redecorate the Sistine Chapel after an eight-ball and unlimited access to a hot glue gun.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png" width="1402" height="1122" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1122,&quot;width&quot;:1402,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:3033019,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208226511?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QLWw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ddb1a95-79e8-4834-a63f-649a7974ab01_1402x1122.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Outside, he&#8217;s already bulldozed the East Wing so he can build himself a goddamn vanity ballroom because apparently living in the White House wasn&#8217;t enough. He needed to turn it into the kind of place that hosts conventions for men who own three different velvet dinner jackets and pronounce the &#8220;T&#8221; in &#8220;filet.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Then they chewed up the South Lawn &#8212; ground where presidents have greeted kings and queens, comforted families after national tragedies, celebrated victories, etched history into memory. Now it&#8217;s just another construction site for his latest architectural cry for help.</span></p><p><span>From above, it barely even looks like the White House anymore.</span></p><p><span>It looks like Independence Hall got flipped by HGTV for divorced nouveau riche billionaires.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s as if American history itself stumbled out of a donor banquet blackout drunk, woke up wearing a rhinestone blazer it didn&#8217;t buy, and can&#8217;t remember who approved any of this shit.</span></p><p><span>It doesn&#8217;t command reverence anymore.</span></p><p><span>It screams, &#8220;LOOK AT ME.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s the attention-starved ex standing in the corner of a black-tie gala where everybody&#8217;s admiring somebody else&#8217;s twenty-something arm candy, so they keep clinking their champagne glass, laughing a little too loudly, and wandering into every fucking conversation just to remind the room they&#8217;re still there.</span></p><p><span>Because that&#8217;s who he&#8217;s always been.</span></p><p><span>He has spent his entire life confusing attention with admiration, excess with excellence, branding with legacy, and applause with love.</span></p><p><span>He understands spectacle.</span></p><p><span>Spotlights.</span></p><p><span>Shiny fucking shit.</span></p><p><span>He thinks greatness comes with a glossy finish. That character is something you can lacquer, glue a cherub onto, prop beneath enough mood lighting, and pray nobody notices it&#8217;s hollow as fuck.</span></p><p><span>He doesn&#8217;t decorate.</span></p><p><span>He disguises.</span></p><p><span>Baron von Bronzer doesn&#8217;t just dip buildings in fake luxury.</span></p><p><span>He dunks his own saggy, sorry ass in it.</span></p><p><span>The ferret-fucked hair. The radioactive rust-colored shellac slathered on like somebody finished him with a Sherwin-Williams sample roller. The contour caked on with a fucking masonry trowel and blind optimism. The balloon-knot &#8220;jawline&#8221; sketched in from pure wishful thinking and a breathtaking contempt for human anatomy. The floppy, flapping, fuck-ugly pontoon-boat tarp suits. The limp, ludicrous, knee-skimming ties dragging around like exhausted fabric foreskins.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg" width="284" height="529" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:529,&quot;width&quot;:284,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:25211,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208226511?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hEc!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F61777c78-95fe-47a5-8d4f-dc0cdbb5e599_284x529.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Every square inch of that melon-hued motherfucker is frantic fucking camouflage.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s spent eighty years trying to gold-plate a personality that never fucking showed up.</span></p><p><span>And when you don&#8217;t believe you&#8217;re enough, you start trying to stamp yourself onto everything around you.</span></p><p><span>Nobody spends a lifetime building monuments to themselves unless they&#8217;re trying to bury something underneath them.</span></p><p><span>You don&#8217;t wallpaper the world with your own name because you&#8217;re secure. You do it because you&#8217;re terrified &#8212; that if the cameras drift away for five fucking minutes, people might notice there&#8217;s nothing behind the curtain except an aging, aggrieved attention addict still chasing approval that never comes.</span></p><p><span>But Narcis-sus Rex will never understand that reverence can&#8217;t be bought, bullied, litigated, inherited, licensed, embossed, or bolted onto the side of a building with a fucking crane.</span></p><p><span>It has to be earned.</span></p><p><span>And while he&#8217;s busy mistaking flattery for love, time keeps collecting its debt. The eyelids grow heavier. The jowls sink lower. The makeup gets thicker while the lies get louder. And the man at the center of all that marble and glitter keeps shrinking until he&#8217;s almost completely swallowed by the set he built to convince the rest of us he was larger than life.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;ve stood in that room.</span></p><p><span>It was one of the most profoundly humbling experiences of my life.</span></p><p><span>Not because it made me feel small.</span></p><p><span>Because it reminded me I was standing inside something immeasurably bigger than any one person who would ever occupy it.</span></p><p><span>The White House isn&#8217;t supposed to inflate your ego.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s supposed to put it in its place.</span></p><p><span>Which is exactly why this matters.</span></p><p><span>So, let me be perfectly fucking clear.</span></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t give a single airborne shit what the Commander-in-Cheap does to his own tacky-ass properties.</span></p><p><span>He can turn Mar-a-Lago into a narcissism petting zoo where every mirror tells him he&#8217;s thirty-nine, six-three, and a goddamn Rhodes scholar who invented the word &#8220;mutilization.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Knock yourself the fuck out, buddy.</span></p><p><span>I.</span></p><p><span>Do.</span></p><p><span>Not.</span></p><p><span>Care.</span></p><p><span>But the White House is different.</span></p><p><span>It isn&#8217;t his trophy case. It isn&#8217;t a reality-show soundstage or the fever dream of an HOA president with absolute power. And it sure as hell isn&#8217;t a place where America&#8217;s history gets sold off for parts so an ego with a Social Security number can redecorate over the ashes.</span></p><p><span>This isn&#8217;t just architecture.</span></p><p><span>The White House is the physical embodiment of a two-hundred-and-fifty-year promise that no one who lives there ever truly owns it. It&#8217;s where presidents have steadied a grieving nation, welcomed heroes home, signed laws that bent history toward justice, and reminded us, at least on our best days, that public service is supposed to be bigger than the person serving.</span></p><p><span>Captain Chintz however, has all the taste of Navin R. Johnson decorating the mansion at the end of The Jerk. Plaster lions. Rotating beds. Zebra stripes. Clamshell bathtubs. The decorating instincts of a Quaalude-fueled furniture outlet that accidentally merged with a Renaissance faire and never financially recovered.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif" width="500" height="279" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:279,&quot;width&quot;:500,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:1007060,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/208226511?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!M6_U!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9c09d32-9ced-4607-931e-95ec55f412eb_500x279.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>All pomp.</span></p><p><span>No purpose.</span></p><p><span>All spectacle.</span></p><p><span>No soul.</span></p><p><span>It feels like somebody handed a billionaire with terminal main-character syndrome the keys to America&#8217;s living room and told him to furnish it exclusively from the pages of Dictators Monthly and the &#8220;Best Sellers&#8221; aisle at a roadside liquidation warehouse.</span></p><p><span>The White House isn&#8217;t supposed to amplify one man&#8217;s vanity. It&#8217;s supposed to reflect all of us.</span></p><p><span>And that&#8217;s exactly what he&#8217;s burying beneath all the bullshit.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s a floundering fascist fumbling around in Florsheims and he simply cannot stop pissing on things that don&#8217;t belong to him.</span></p><p><span>Every &#8220;improvement&#8221; is another frenzied fucking fit of overcompensation.</span></p><p><span>He isn&#8217;t rebuilding.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s laundering a legacy.</span></p><p><span>No other president, no matter how flawed, has ever tried to turn the People&#8217;s House into a monument to himself.</span></p><p><span>Even the bad ones understood one simple truth:</span></p><p><span>This house does not belong to you.</span></p><p><span>You are a moment.</span></p><p><span>Not the monument.</span></p><p><span>But not this vainglorious vandal.</span></p><p><span>He wants his fingerprints on every room, his reflection in every pane of glass, his name echoing through every hallway until people forget what the building was supposed to represent in the first place.</span></p><p><span>That pathetic piece of shit clearly believes that if he leaves enough of himself behind, history will mistake volume for meaning.</span></p><p><span>It won&#8217;t.</span></p><p><span>We&#8217;ll remember the Oval Office smothered beneath gaudy overkill.</span></p><p><span>We&#8217;ll remember the East Wing reduced to rubble.</span></p><p><span>We&#8217;ll remember the South Lawn carved open for a party palace nobody asked for.</span></p><p><span>We&#8217;ll remember the arrogance.</span></p><p><span>The appetite.</span></p><p><span>The desecration.</span></p><p><span>Because every president before him understood something he never will:</span></p><p><span>You don&#8217;t inherit the White House to remake it in your own image.</span></p><p><span>You inherit it to protect it for everyone who comes after you.</span></p><p><span>He looked at the People&#8217;s House and saw one more thing he thought he could own.</span></p><p><span>He was wrong.</span></p><p><span>It belonged to us before him.</span></p><p><span>It belongs to us now.</span></p><p><span>It will belong to us long after he&#8217;s gone.</span></p><p><span>And no amount of bulldozers, ballrooms, or bullshit will ever make this house his.</span></p><p><span>You can tear down a wing.</span></p><p><span>You can&#8217;t tear down what it stands for.</span></p><p><span>He doesn&#8217;t get the final word.</span></p><p><span>We do.</span></p><p><span>Because one day he&#8217;ll be gone. And when that glorious day finally arrives, we will scrape, scour, strip, sand, and scrub every stupid fucking trace of him from everything he pissed on until the only place his name survives is in the history books, warning future generations not to make the same mistake twice.</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2--Ti1b-RRBjI" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;-Ti1b-RRBjI&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/-Ti1b-RRBjI?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p><span>I love you guys!</span></p><p><em>I wrote this piece while attempting to power through what I worry is a case of unfortunate chicken (great cover band name btw).</em></p><p><span>Stay safe out there, stay strong, stay away from unfortunate chicken, and stay connected to each other!</span></p><p>&#128153; Jo</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/gold-lame-caligula-strikes-again/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/gold-lame-caligula-strikes-again/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/gold-lame-caligula-strikes-again?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/gold-lame-caligula-strikes-again?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[BFD LIVE WITH TARA AND JO! 4 MORE FALLEN HEROES IN TRUMP'S ILLEGAL WAR!]]></title><description><![CDATA[A recording from JoJoFromJerz's live video]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-4-more</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-4-more</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 22:38:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/208105046/5ebe521ab302c2748df9dd2ee9d8f484.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Paola Palazzo&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:19302257,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@paolapalazzo&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/96558341-d711-4cc5-86d7-c0b659cf9b75_1585x1199.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;31c0d0ab-71f4-4cf0-af2a-e8fcfb4f26e0&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Mark Tremblay&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:35471969,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@marktremblay442417&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/49357b91-0539-4b8b-af3a-1547c0bc67ea_144x144.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;8fb81530-d19a-43e2-b47d-56dc7bfe21dc&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Terry Helton&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:1111531,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@westerndemocrat&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4fd8eb6b-4f6d-4bb5-af47-2f32b6ae0fbd_144x144.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;c24c3ea6-d73a-42cb-9273-c0aa7d3254a0&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;David Austin&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:136240065,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@davidaustin378971&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;55ab2c76-b4c1-4de1-b7bd-0ef6fb580c4c&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Rick Gordon&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:40758052,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@rickgordon578492&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;c50f1740-0dd0-4951-95d0-95e039d55065&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-4-more/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-4-more/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-4-more?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/bfd-live-with-tara-and-jo-4-more?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Breadsticks Are Not a Constitutional Right, Dipshits]]></title><description><![CDATA[Leave it to MAGA to Somehow Turn Unlimited Pasta Into a Civil Liberties Debate]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/breadsticks-are-not-a-constitutional</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/breadsticks-are-not-a-constitutional</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2026 02:34:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/207991230/8363b184cc1e8d4bbaf455f5ac3d8fa1.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h6><span>A quick word from my new sponsor, Incogni.</span></h6><h6><span>I&#8217;ve had death threats because of the work I do. What scared me most was how easy it was for strangers to find my personal information online.</span></h6><h6><span>That&#8217;s why I use Incogni. They help remove your data from hundreds of people-search and data broker sites, and they keep monitoring because your information doesn&#8217;t stay gone on its own.</span></h6><h6><span>If you want to make yourself a lot harder to find, get 55% off annual plans with code </span><a href="https://deal.incogni.io/aff_c?offer_id=6&amp;aff_id=2728">JOJODEAL</a><span>.</span></h6><div><hr></div><p><span>I&#8217;ve seen the MAGA shidiots swallow some Olympic-level bullshit over the years.</span></p><p><span>Litter boxes in kindergarten classrooms for kids who identify as &#8220;furries,&#8221; as though Mrs. Henderson is spending her planning period scooping imaginary turds instead of buying crayons with her own damn money.</span></p><p><span>Pole dancing replacing square dancing in gym class like it&#8217;s part of some secret Department of Education cabaret initiative.</span></p><p><span>An AR-15 round that somehow tore through a human ear and apparently revolutionized trauma medicine because all we&#8217;ve needed this whole time for a high-velocity rifle wound is a maxi pad and a long weekend.</span></p><p><span>Or the fact that Mexico was definitely, absolutely, pinky-fucking-promised it was going to pay for the wall. Any day now. Check&#8217;s in the mail, apparently.</span></p><p><span>I thought I&#8217;d reached the bottom of the MAGA rabbit hole. I&#8217;d opened every moldy little door, cataloged every damp, fungus-covered corner of the place, and figured I&#8217;d finally seen the dumbest thing these people could possibly believe.</span></p><p><span>Then they somehow found a lower floor.</span></p><p><span>And not as a joke. Not as a shitpost from some anonymous egg account. This came from the top. Then it spread. The House Majority Leader. A sitting U.S. senator. A state attorney general. A congresswoman who&#8217;s been in office since the Pleistocene. The deputy White House chief of staff. Then the White House press office itself, podium, seal, flags and all. Same script. Same talking points. Same fucking fettuccine.</span></p><p><span>This was the argument. &#8220;If you need ID for unlimited breadsticks, you should need ID to vote.&#8221; That&#8217;s it. That&#8217;s the fucking brief. Hundreds of staff. Pollsters. Lawyers. Every last one of them watched this steaming bowl of constitutional carbonara roll out the front door and nobody stopped it.</span></p><p><span>A room full of grown adults drawing taxpayer-funded paychecks looked at the Constitution, looked at a laminated Olive Garden Pasta Pass, squinted until smoke started pouring out of their ears, and decided those two things were basically interchangeable.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-gop-wont-let-go-of-its-olive-garden-election-analogy-and-mockery-ensues/ar-AA28pzuG?ocid=BingNewsVerp"><span>I was watching this unfold on the news today and I thought &#8212; of all the spectacularly stupid shit these people have tried to sell us over the years&#8230;</span></a></p><p><span>This one takes the fucking cake.</span></p><p><span>And then I remembered who we&#8217;re dealing with&#8230;</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg" width="1024" height="576" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:576,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:103942,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207991230?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sHsz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4a925540-bfb8-4f13-a51c-40d8a4775a55_1024x576.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Oh, you absolute fucking legends of stupidity. You glorious, star-spangled dipshits. You majestically brain-dead champions of mediocrity.</span></p><p><span>The fucking Olive Garden.</span></p><p><span>You looked at unlimited breadsticks and one of the foundational rights of a constitutional republic and couldn&#8217;t find a meaningful distinction between the two. Then you nodded like you&#8217;d just solved the fucking Rosetta Stone.</span></p><p><span>Watching you navigate basic civics is like watching a middle-aged guy named Gary assemble IKEA furniture with a barbecue fork and half a warm Coors Light. Three screws left over, and there you are in the wreckage, thumbs hooked through your belt loops like Frank Lloyd Wright.</span></p><p><span>And you&#8217;re not just wrong.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;re fucking delighted by it.</span></p><p><span>You wear your inability to tell the difference between a pasta promotion and a constitutional right like it&#8217;s a Medal of Honor personally pinned to your chest by Alfredo himself.</span></p><p><span>No, Kevin. Voter ID and Pasta e Fagioli ID are not, in fact, one and the same, you Buc-ee&#8217;s-brained, bargain-bin, breathtakingly hollow-headed, super-stupid.</span></p><p><span>One of these is a promotional coupon for carbohydrates. The other decides who runs the goddamn country.</span></p><p><span>Breadsticks are not a constitutional right.</span></p><p><span>Voting is.</span></p><p><span>Now look, Olive Garden can do whatever the fuck it wants. It&#8217;s a restaurant. It exists to separate suburban dads from forty-three dollars in exchange for pasta, endless soup, and a dining room that has smelled permanently like garlic butter and damp carpet ever since Miss Cleo was telling people to call her now.</span></p><p><span>If it wants to check your ID, scan a QR code, and make you stand in the foyer balancing on one leg while a waiter named Kyle makes you sing &#8220;That&#8217;s Amore&#8221; like you&#8217;re auditioning for an Italian-themed cruise ship before he&#8217;ll trust you with another fistful of pepperoncinis, six more black olives, and enough powdered Parmesan to embalm a small horse&#8230; knock yourselves the fuck out.</span></p><p><span>The stakes are salad.</span></p><p><span>Nobody loses the right to participate in American democracy because Kyle decides you&#8217;ve had enough five-cheese ziti al forno, confiscates your extra croutons, and escorts you away from the grated cheese while a sugar-drunk eight-year-old is using the bacon bits as confetti and somebody&#8217;s aunt is stuffing Andes mints into her purse like she&#8217;s preparing for the apocalypse.</span></p><p><span>But here&#8217;s what Olive Garden isn&#8217;t doing.</span></p><p><span>They&#8217;re not demanding your birth certificate, your passport, your marriage certificate, two utility bills, and a notarized affidavit from the woman who sold you your first Beanie Baby before they&#8217;ll let you order the Tour of Italy.</span></p><p><span>Imagine if they did.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;I&#8217;m sorry, ma&#8217;am, before we can seat you for Nonna Cacciatore&#8217;s Carb Crawl Across Catania, we&#8217;ll need a certified copy of your birth certificate.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;And yes, we&#8217;re aware you&#8217;re standing right here. Unfortunately, we can&#8217;t legally issue you a side salad until Tomothy in Compliance signs off on your vinaigrette verification.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;d burn that restaurant to the fucking ground.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;d be outside before the complimentary iceberg lettuce wilted, wrapped in a flag you bought at Tractor Supply, giving an interview to the local news with Alfredo sauce on your chin, screaming about tyranny, freedom, socialism, the Founding Fathers, and whatever else washed ashore in the tide pool you call a frontal lobe between mouthfuls of fried calamari.</span></p><p><span>And for one glorious, accidental moment&#8230;</span></p><p><span>&#8230;you&#8217;d actually be right.</span></p><p><span>Because that would be an insane barrier between a customer and the stupid pasta promotion they already paid for.</span></p><p><span>But slap those same obstacles in front of an actual constitutional right?</span></p><p><span>Suddenly you&#8217;re nodding along so hard you&#8217;d think somebody was handing out complimentary fried lasagna bites and scratch-off tickets.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Seems reasonable.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Common sense.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Nothing to hide.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;d swallow that bullshit so enthusiastically it&#8217;d make you look like Ron DeSantis hiding in a corner somewhere, finger-fucking a pudding cup.</span></p><p><span>Because that&#8217;s the trick, isn&#8217;t it? They keep you staring at the endless breadstick basket while somebody quietly walks off with your ballot. &#8220;Look! A flag! A bald eagle! A pasta analogy!&#8221; Meanwhile the actual bill slips past without you reading a fucking word of it. Slap &#8220;election integrity&#8221; on the label and you&#8217;ll swallow it bowl, spoon, and all.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;re a toddler eating crayons because they&#8217;re colorful, except the crayons are propaganda, and instead of a tummy ache you&#8217;re going to end up owning the libs by voting yourself out of voting.</span></p><p><span>And don&#8217;t even get me started on the &#8220;it&#8217;s just common sense&#8221; bullshit.</span></p><p><span>It is not common sense, dipshit.</span></p><p><span>God gave you a brain and you&#8217;ve been using it as a decorative paperweight ever since. The kind that sits forgotten on top of a filing cabinet next to a commemorative Dale Earnhardt spoon and whatever the fuck that mystery key opens.</span></p><p><span>If common sense were actually the goal, you&#8217;d listen to the election administrators who&#8217;ve spent decades running elections instead of a guy named Skeeter livestreaming from the driver&#8217;s seat of an F-250 with Oakleys perched on his hat, a Monster Energy sweating in the cupholder, and a profile picture that somehow still has a Thin Blue Line filter from 2019.</span></p><p><span>But no.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;d rather trust a blurry JPEG that says ballots are secretly printed in Venezuela because your cousin&#8217;s ex-wife&#8217;s chiropractor shared it with three crying-laughing emojis and the caption, &#8220;Makes ya think.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Then you march around screaming, &#8220;FREEDOM ISN&#8217;T FREE!&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Which is apparently true.</span></p><p><span>Because now you&#8217;re volunteering to pay for it by putting a fucking checkpoint between yourself and the ballot box.</span></p><p><span>Congratulations.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;ve become the TSA of democracy.</span></p><p><span>Only with less competence and worse breath.</span></p><p><span>Let&#8217;s talk about your priorities for a second.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;ll happily volunteer for a bureaucratic decathlon because somebody with an eagle avatar and eighteen American flag emojis told you it&#8217;d own the libs.</span></p><p><span>Newsflash, Scooter.</span></p><p><span>The libs aren&#8217;t triggered.</span></p><p><span>We&#8217;re just over here blinking like a family that accidentally wandered into the wrong wedding, trying to figure out why you&#8217;re so fucking excited to make your own life harder.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;re out here demanding paperwork from yourself. From your wife. From your eighty-three-year-old mother who hasn&#8217;t seen her original birth certificate since Eisenhower was figuring out where to hang the drapes.</span></p><p><span>And you cheer for it. &#8220;Take my rights, but make absolutely sure somebody with blue hair has a mildly inconvenient afternoon.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;re not owning the libs.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;re volunteering to become the unpaid intern in your own disenfranchisement.</span></p><p><span>Because that&#8217;s who this actually eats. That&#8217;s your Meemaw, born at home in 1947 because the nearest hospital was a rumor and a dirt road. That&#8217;s every married woman whose name doesn&#8217;t match her paperwork. That&#8217;s the rural guy burning a day&#8217;s pay and a tank of gas to reach a courthouse three counties over. You&#8217;re not sticking it to anyone except your own dwindling right to vote.</span></p><p><span>And the fraud you&#8217;re so terrified of? It barely exists. A handful of documented cases against hundreds of millions of ballots, and thirty-six states already ask for ID at the polls anyway. The entire premise is a lie in a little checkered bib, and you bought it, cheerfully, because a room full of the same people who&#8217;d sell you insulin at a markup told you pasta and democracy were the same receipt.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;ll die on any hill as long as it&#8217;s covered in cheap plastic patriotism and a chain restaurant&#8217;s terms of service. &#8220;Give me endless breadsticks or give me death!&#8221; you scream, sliding your voter registration across the host stand like it&#8217;s the Constitution.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;d trade your actual vote for the satisfaction of knowing a lib somewhere had to show ID for tortellini. You&#8217;re the Rosa Parks of the fast-casual dining loophole.</span></p><p><span>Fine.</span></p><p><span>Let&#8217;s play by your rules.</span></p><p><span>Election Day, I&#8217;m showing up at my polling place with my Never Ending Pasta Pass.</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Hi. I&#8217;d like to cast one democracy, please.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Ma&#8217;am&#8230; this here card says it&#8217;s good for unlimited salad, five-cheese ziti al forno, and all the canned black olives and stale croutons your little heart desires.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Excellent. Put me down for the governor.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>&#8220;No, ma&#8217;am, that&#8217;s not how voting works.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Really?</span></p><p><span>Because I distinctly remember your party spending the better part of a news cycle assuring America these were basically the same fucking card.</span></p><p><span>So if you&#8217;re asking me for ID, I&#8217;m asking you for a side of tiramisu.</span></p><p><span>If I&#8217;m proving my eligibility to vote, I expect an order of fried mozzarella, a boat of Alfredo dipping sauce the size of a birdbath, and one of those little stainless-steel ramekins of marinara that&#8217;s somehow always hotter than the surface of the sun.</span></p><p><span>And if we&#8217;re really pretending a ballot and a Pasta Pass occupy the same legal universe&#8230;</span></p><p><span>&#8230;don&#8217;t be surprised when I ask whether early voting comes with extra Caesar dressing and a refill on raspberry f&#8217;ng lemonade.</span></p><p><span>So congratulations.</span></p><p><span>You played yourselves.</span></p><p><span>Because if you get your self-sabotaging, shit-for-brains way, pretty soon you&#8217;ll be the ones marinating outside a polling place that used to be your neighborhood elementary school but is now somehow forty-two miles away in a municipal building that smells like wet ceiling tiles, expired copier toner, and quiet despair, clutching a utility bill, a Ziploc bag full of certified copies, and a deli-style ticket that says Now Serving: B-17 while the sign still stubbornly flashes A-42.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;ll still be blaming immigrants. Drag queens. Pronouns. Windmills. Elmo. Whatever the fuck outrage-boogeyman du jour Fox serves up before the commercial break.</span></p><p><span>Meanwhile, the rich assholes who sold you this fairy tale will be two bottles of Barolo deep, arguing over whose yacht gets the better slip while charging the shrimp scampi to a dinner you paid for.</span></p><p><span>You&#8217;ll be the ones inching through the line, hunting for records, being told your documents aren&#8217;t quite documenty enough, getting fucked over.</span></p><p><span>And the saddest part?</span></p><p><span>You volunteered.</span></p><p><span>The rest of us will be over here trying to clean up the motherfucking mess you made.</span></p><p><em><span>Again.</span></em></p><p><span>With clipboards, voter registration forms, folding tables, sunscreen, bottled water, and the exhausted resignation of people who somehow keep finding themselves babysitting grown adults who&#8217;d lose a game of Connect Four to a houseplant.</span></p><p><span>Because when you&#8217;re here&#8230;</span></p><p><span>&#8230;you&#8217;re family.</span></p><p><span>Unless your maiden name doesn&#8217;t match.</span></p><p><span>In which case, we&#8217;re terribly sorry.</span></p><p><span>We&#8217;re fresh out of Italian donuts.</span></p><p><span>And you&#8217;re shit out of luck.</span></p><p><span>Cheers, dipshits.</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-Ee_uujKuJMI" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;Ee_uujKuJMI&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Ee_uujKuJMI?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p><span>I love you guys!!</span></p><p><span>Please stay safe out there, stay strong and stay connected to each other.</span></p><p><span>&#128153; Jo</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/breadsticks-are-not-a-constitutional/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/breadsticks-are-not-a-constitutional/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/breadsticks-are-not-a-constitutional?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/breadsticks-are-not-a-constitutional?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Give a gift subscription&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true"><span>Give a gift subscription</span></a></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/jojofromjerz/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;jojofromjerz&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:1198484,&quot;name&quot;:&quot; Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;JoJoFromJerz&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dh3U!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffab23a64-f210-496d-b3cc-238d1e3d2c3a_1125x1125.jpeg&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[An “Obliterated” Military Keeps Killing Our Troops]]></title><description><![CDATA[Three more Americans are dead. The &#8220;Commander in Chief&#8221; spent the weekend golfing and posing with someone else&#8217;s trophy.]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/an-obliterated-military-keeps-killing</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/an-obliterated-military-keeps-killing</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:04:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp" width="1200" height="675" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:675,&quot;width&quot;:1200,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:79188,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/webp&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207802912?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!KbX7!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0ec5d241-b50b-49ea-91a5-72406df2beb3_1200x675.webp 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Over the weekend, Donald Trump&#8217;s illegal war with Iran claimed three more American service members.</span></p><p><span>Three.</span></p><p><span>The same war he keeps telling us is already won. The same military he stands at podiums bragging he &#8220;totally obliterated&#8221; &#8212; obliterated, past tense, done, finished, wiped from the earth &#8212; somehow keeps reaching across that earth and killing our troops.</span></p><p><span>You cannot have both. You cannot have &#8220;totally obliterated&#8221; and flag-draped coffins in the same week. Either their military is destroyed, or American families are burying their children &#8212; and the coffins don&#8217;t lie.</span></p><p><span>He does.</span></p><p><span>Two of our own died in Jordan, where Iranian missiles came shrieking out of a night sky that was supposed to be quiet, that had been promised to be defended, that instead opened up like a wound and rained fire down on Americans who had written letters home that week, who had photographs taped inside their lockers, who had plans &#8212; small, ordinary, sacred plans &#8212; for the lives they intended to resume. A third died in Iraq, killed while disposing of the wreckage of an Iranian drone &#8212; killed by the debris of a war he didn&#8217;t start, didn&#8217;t choose, and didn&#8217;t get to survive.</span></p><p><span>An obliterated military did that.</span></p><p><span>And one more American is still missing. Right now, today, somewhere in this country, there is a family suspended in the cruelest purgatory the human heart can occupy &#8212; a mother who flinches at every set of headlights that sweeps across her living room wall, a father who has stopped sleeping so he can&#8217;t be woken, a kid brother refreshing a phone until his thumb aches, all of them bargaining with a God they may not even believe in: please. Please. Not him. Not her.</span></p><p><span>So where was the so-called Commander in Chief while military families braced for the knock that turns an ordinary Sunday into a scar &#8212; the knock that turns a front porch into a place a mother will never again cross without her knees buckling?</span></p><p><span>Where was he while wives became widows, while children became the kids whose dad died in the war, while entire futures &#8212; weddings and graduations and arguments over car keys and slow dances in kitchens &#8212; collapsed into folded triangles of flag?</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg" width="680" height="383" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/d2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:383,&quot;width&quot;:680,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:60870,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207802912?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!yGJ5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2cb3062-cfd0-46c3-b1d4-e9db49fea9bf_680x383.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><h5><em>1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, were killed as part of the Friday attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan</em></h5><p><span>How was he &#8220;honoring&#8221; their sacrifice?</span></p><p><span>He could have been solemn. He could have been silent. He could have been anywhere adjacent to sorrow. Instead he was sun-soaked, self-satisfied, spectacularly unbothered, swanning through his own weekend like the war was somebody else&#8217;s weather.</span></p><p><span>He was at his golf club. And then he was at the FIFA World Cup Final.</span></p><p><span>Not somber. Not subdued. Not bent beneath the weight a wartime presidency is supposed to press into a man&#8217;s shoulders until his posture permanently changes. This bunker-bothered, bogey-blaming, bone-spur-blessed bullshit artist spent Saturday grousing about his short game while Central Command counted our dead &#8212; then showed up Sunday jubilant. Beaming. Clapping. Glad-handing. Glowing like a man who has never once been asked to carry anything heavier than his own reflection. He looked like a kid who&#8217;d won backstage passes to his favorite band. He grinned the gluttonous, gloating grin of a man for whom every stadium is a mirror.</span></p><p><span>Confetti fell like blossoms over a billion-dollar stadium, gold flakes spinning through floodlight, eighty thousand voices rising into a flawless July sky &#8212; while, an ocean away, on a strip of sun-scorched tarmac, six soldiers in white gloves moved with the slow, rehearsed precision of men carrying something that cannot be dropped, cannot be jostled, cannot be handled like anything else on this earth, because inside the steel was somebody&#8217;s whole world. No confetti there. No roar. Just the flag pulled taut over the case, the heat shimmering off the runway, boots in perfect mournful cadence &#8212; and a silence so total you could hear the fabric move.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg" width="1035" height="713" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:713,&quot;width&quot;:1035,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:385258,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207802912?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!j8xH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3326d4aa-9ea8-4c6c-83e4-63ba696a6355_1035x713.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>And of course sacrifice means nothing to him. What else would you expect from this five-time-deferment-dodging, doctor&#8217;s-note-dependent, disco-decade draft evader &#8212; this pampered, privileged, phony-ailment-pleading piece of shit who spent the Vietnam War club-hopping through Manhattan and later declared, on the radio, grinning, that avoiding STDs was his &#8220;personal Vietnam.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>His personal Vietnam.</span></p><p><span>Fifty-eight thousand names carved into black granite, and this preening, podium-pounding, POW-disparaging poltroon compared their sacrifice to his sex life.</span></p><p><span>And he didn&#8217;t come alone to the stadium. He brought the whole gilded brood &#8212; the princelings, the handbag heiress, the slumlord son-in-law &#8212; these trust-funded, tax-dodging, trophy-hunting deferment dynasty darlings, these champagne-christened, chopper-commuting, charity-skimming children of the eternal luxury box, arranged along the railing in their sunglasses and their sundresses, a crime family in resort wear, teeth gleaming like the grilles of the Bentleys idling downstairs, while somewhere across an ocean American soldiers were being carried home with more care than this family has shown any human being in three generations.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg" width="1290" height="934" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:934,&quot;width&quot;:1290,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:245367,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207802912?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f0r2!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F33b0bdf1-29f1-464a-9f69-5bbb96018f76_1290x934.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Not one of them has ever served. Not one of them has surrendered a single season of comfort, a single summer, a single second of their upholstered existence to the country they drape themselves in like a costume. Their sons will never be deployed. Their daughters will never learn what a casualty assistance officer is. Their phones will never ring at 4 a.m. with a voice that begins, &#8220;Ma&#8217;am, I regret to inform you.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>This isn&#8217;t even let them eat cake.</span></p><p><span>This is let them die for the war we&#8217;re getting rich on.</span></p><p><span>Nineteen-year-olds coming home under the flag, and this family&#8217;s contribution to the war effort was &#8220;Cheese!!!&#8221;</span></p><p><span>And look &#8212; to say the very least, I was not a fan of George W. Bush or the way he decided to so-called lead this country. But on this one thing, that motherfucker was fucking right: you don&#8217;t go whooping it up on a golf course while you&#8217;re asking parents to sacrifice their children for your fucking war. He gave up the game entirely. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the Commander-in-Chief playing golf,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I feel I owe it to the families.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>I owe it to the families.</span></p><p><span>Even that motherfucker understood the office is bigger than the man. That grief deserves reverence. That sacrifice demands restraint. That when the nation bleeds, its leader does not get to sunbathe in its applause.</span></p><p><span>This vainglorious fuckwit cannot clear a bar set that low. He cannot clear a bar lying on the ground.</span></p><p><span>When U.S. Central Command announced the losses, do you know what he offered? Nothing. Nearly twenty-four hours of nothing. No statement. No tribute. No flag lowered by his order, no syllable of solace for the families whose worlds had just been detonated. And when he finally broke his silence, this mendacious moron emerged not to mourn but to post &#8212; about sanctions legislation. Sanctions. Not soldiers. Spreadsheets before caskets. Leverage before grief. Later, cornered on television, he managed to summon the words &#8220;a very sad thing.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>A very sad thing.</span></p><p><span>That is the emotional vocabulary of a man describing a rain delay. A canceled tee time. These were people. A varsity jacket in a closet in Ohio. A half-finished text sitting in somebody&#8217;s drafts. A dog that still runs to the window at the sound of every diesel engine. Entire biographies waiting in the debris of an ordinary life for a homecoming that isn&#8217;t coming. People with middle names and inside jokes, with songs they played too loud in the car, with someone at home who had already picked out what they&#8217;d wear to the airport reunion &#8212; and the man who ordered them into the kill zone cannot pronounce one of their names. He doesn&#8217;t know them. He never asked. He never will.</span></p><p><span>He knows &#8220;totally obliterated,&#8221; though. He can say that all day. He&#8217;ll say it again this week, probably from a tee box, while the obliterated military he obliterated reloads.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>He couldn&#8217;t even let Spain have its championship. That was their moment &#8212; their trophy, their history, the photographs their grandchildren will someday trace with small fingers &#8212; and there he was, this camera-craving, credit-cadging, confetti-crashing spotlight leech, planted center stage like a tick engorged on borrowed glory, lingering, hovering, orbiting those players like a desperate moon, because somewhere inside that bottomless black hole of narcissism he cannot metabolize the concept that a moment might belong to somebody else. If there&#8217;s a stage, he mounts it. If there&#8217;s applause, he pockets it. If there&#8217;s history being made, he wedges his bloated bulk into the frame. The players finally had to retake their team photos without him. They edited him out of the final versions.</span></p><p><span>Boy, how I wish we could all do that.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg" width="1047" height="552" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:552,&quot;width&quot;:1047,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:147743,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207802912?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xZRl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F72b858ff-a6e2-42cd-971d-9fa7e2fc1300_1047x552.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>He could not contain his ecstasy over a soccer match, but could not excavate one ounce of humanity for three Americans killed in his war. Our troops are toys to him. Props. Pawns. Patriotic scenery he wheels out when the backdrop makes him look strong and strikes the moment it doesn&#8217;t. There is no number of coffins that will ever matter more to this solipsistic sack of shit than his own coverage &#8212; no casualty count that will ever compete with a camera.</span></p><p><span>Somewhere today a family is picking out a casket.</span></p><p><span>Somewhere today a family is still waiting by the phone.</span></p><p><span>Three American service members are dead. Another is missing. This should have been a weekend of bowed heads. Quiet dignity. The flags should have dropped to half-staff, the tee times should have been cancelled, the luxury box should have sat empty, and the President of the United States should have stood before this country and said their names.</span></p><p><span>Instead&#8230; he golfed.</span></p><p><span>He posed with someone else&#8217;s trophy.</span></p><p><span>He should have spent the weekend honoring the fallen &#8212; the ones he sent into war.</span></p><p><span>He spent the weekend honoring&#8230; himself.</span></p><p>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</p><div id="youtube2-3RmQTYLD398" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;3RmQTYLD398&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3RmQTYLD398?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p><span>I took some time away this weekend to be with my kids, to be with friends, and to spend time with the people who fill my cup instead of quietly pouring from it.</span></p><p><span>Then I came home and did what I always do.</span></p><p><span>I read your comments.</span></p><p><span>Your responses to my words have become a refuge for me.</span></p><p><span>When life gets especially heavy, I find myself here. With all of you. Reading your kindness. Borrowing a little hope. Remembering that there are still people who choose compassion first.</span></p><p><span>To me, you&#8217;re all family.</span></p><p><span>The kind that shows up. The kind that carries one another. The kind that somehow makes the world feel a little less heavy just by reminding each other we&#8217;re not alone.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;ll never stop being grateful for you.</span></p><p><span>Thank you for filling my cup when I need it most.</span></p><p>I love you guys!</p><p>Please stay strong, stay safe out there, and stay connected to each other!</p><p>&#128153; Jo</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/an-obliterated-military-keeps-killing/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/an-obliterated-military-keeps-killing/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/an-obliterated-military-keeps-killing?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/an-obliterated-military-keeps-killing?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Give a gift subscription&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true"><span>Give a gift subscription</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Fucking Lunatic Is Coming for Our Elections]]></title><description><![CDATA[Piggy Trump Somehow Forgot Who Was President in 2020]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-fucking-lunatic-is-coming-for</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/the-fucking-lunatic-is-coming-for</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 18 Jul 2026 03:51:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/207507091/5d18adc0a3719684c322bc38a76f0971.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h5><span>I use Ground News every single day because I got tired of realizing the same story could look completely different depending on who was telling it and what agenda they were pushing.</span></h5><h5><span>Ground News lets me compare coverage side by side, spot media bias, and find the stories other outlets quietly ignore. It&#8217;s become one of my favorite research tools because I&#8217;d rather see the whole picture than the algorithm-approved version of it.</span></h5><h5><span>If you want the receipts instead of the spin, you can get </span><strong><span>40% off the Vantage plan I use</span></strong><span> right here.</span></h5><h5><span>&#128073; </span><a href="https://groundnews.com/jojo"><span>https://groundnews.com/jojo</span></a><span> &#128072;</span></h5><div><hr></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg" width="1456" height="819" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-hY6!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64a9ece1-47d3-4c22-bde0-9abfd9e39476_1920x1080.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Donald Trump waddled out in front of the American people last night and delivered a QAnon TED Talk sponsored by lead paint and untreated syphilis.</span></p><p><span>I swear to God, every time I think this histrionic fucking halfwit has finally reached the bottom of the barrel, he finds a trapdoor.</span></p><p><span>His big &#8220;revelation&#8221;?</span></p><p><span>Apparently Democrats forgot to rig the election in 2016&#8230; somehow figured out how to rig it perfectly in 2020 while Donald Trump was literally the fucking president&#8230; and then, four years later, forgot how to rig it again.</span></p><p><span>So according to Donald Trump, the only election Democrats successfully stole&#8230;</span></p><p><span>&#8230;was the one he himself was in charge of protecting.</span></p><p><span>You have to be a special kind of staggeringly, spectacularly stupid motherfucker to believe this bullshit. The kind of stupid that reads the warning label on a bottle of bleach and thinks, &#8220;Well don&#8217;t tell me how to party.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>By this logic, Democrats are criminal masterminds capable of coordinating a globe-spanning conspiracy involving voting machines, intelligence agencies, thousands of local election officials and millions of ballots&#8230;</span></p><p><span>&#8230;but every other election cycle they accidentally leave the fucking instructions at Kinko&#8217;s.</span></p><p><span>Apparently they&#8217;re omnipotent on Tuesday and can&#8217;t organize a fucking yard sale by Wednesday.</span></p><p><span>Apparently the Deep State can overthrow the government but keeps getting locked out of its own fucking Gmail account. They&#8217;re one forgotten password away from yelling, &#8220;Kevin! Get your ass in here! I clicked on something I definitely wasn&#8217;t supposed to click on!&#8221;</span></p><p><span>This isn&#8217;t a conspiracy theory anymore. It&#8217;s a choose-your-own-adventure book written entirely in crayon by a man who keeps eating the pages.</span></p><p><span>Hell, this theory has more positions than the Kama Sutra and somehow makes less fucking sense.</span></p><p><span>Except this isn&#8217;t just another crazy rant.</span></p><p><span>This is the President of the United States using the power of that office to convince millions of Americans that the next election cannot be trusted before a single ballot has even been cast.</span></p><p><span>And today, his Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne &#8220;Two First Names, No Fucking Clue&#8221; Mullin, went a step further, warning that state officials who refuse to comply with the administration&#8217;s election directives could face criminal prosecution and even imprisonment.</span></p><p><span>They&#8217;re not hiding the ball anymore.</span></p><p><span>They&#8217;re helicopter-dicking the whole damn playbook around the room and acting offended that we&#8217;re looking.</span></p><p><span>The President tells you the election is already corrupt.</span></p><p><span>His administration tells state officials they&#8217;d better get in line&#8230;</span></p><p><span>&#8230;or they could go to prison.</span></p><p><span>And now lawmakers are openly warning that he could send federal agents or even troops into our elections to seize ballots, seize voting machines and take control of polling places.</span></p><p><span>They&#8217;re telling us out loud.</span></p><p><span>This isn&#8217;t election security.</span></p><p><span>This is intimidation.</span></p><p><span>This is bullying wrapped in bureaucracy.</span></p><p><span>This is the federal government putting a fucking gun on the table before the American people vote and asking state election officials if they feel like playing nice.</span></p><p><span>Because this isn&#8217;t about 2020 anymore.</span></p><p><span>He&#8217;s laying the groundwork.</span></p><p><span>Brick by brick.</span></p><p><span>Lie by lie.</span></p><p><span>Bullshit by bullshit.</span></p><p><span>If Americans vote against him, he&#8217;ll say it was stolen.</span></p><p><span>If states refuse to do what he wants, he&#8217;ll claim they&#8217;re corrupt.</span></p><p><span>If he loses, he&#8217;ll insist the election was illegitimate before the votes are even counted.</span></p><p><span>There is no fucking way Donald Trump willingly allows us to have free and fair elections in November without trying to poison, pressure, pollute, obstruct or seize control of the process.</span></p><p><span>Because he knows exactly what happens if the votes get counted straight.</span></p><p><span>He loses the House.</span></p><p><span>He loses the Senate.</span></p><p><span>And then it&#8217;s lights out.</span></p><p><span>Game fucking over.</span></p><p><span>The investigations begin, the subpoenas start flying, his protection racket starts cracking, crumbling and collapsing&#8230;</span></p><p><span>&#8230;and Donald Trump is fucking toast.</span></p><p><span>Authoritarians don&#8217;t cancel elections overnight.</span></p><p><span>They poison public confidence.</span></p><p><span>They sabotage public trust.</span></p><p><span>They smother democracy one lie at a time until people stop believing their own ballots matter.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s what last night was.</span></p><p><span>Not an explanation.</span></p><p><span>Not evidence.</span></p><p><span>A permission slip.</span></p><p><span>So what do we do?</span></p><p><span>We demand that Congress pass protections prohibiting federal agents or troops from touching ballots, voting machines or polling places.</span></p><p><span>We pressure governors, attorneys general and secretaries of state to prepare emergency legal challenges now, not after federal agents arrive.</span></p><p><span>We check our registrations.</span></p><p><span>We vote early where we can.</span></p><p><span>We volunteer as poll workers.</span></p><p><span>We document intimidation.</span></p><p><span>We support the election officials who refuse to surrender their constitutional authority.</span></p><p><span>And then we overwhelm every obstacle they build with so many lawful votes that their bullshit cannot bury what the American people have said.</span></p><p><span>Because if we laugh at the insanity without recognizing the strategy underneath it, we&#8217;re going to wake up one day wondering where our democracy went&#8230;</span></p><p><span>&#8230;while the guy who told us Democrats forgot how to rig elections explains why we shouldn&#8217;t be allowed to vote in the next one.</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-HPt8zNLw0dU" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;HPt8zNLw0dU&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/HPt8zNLw0dU?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p>I love you guys!</p><p>Pleas stay safe, stay strong, and stay connected to each other!  </p><p><span>I read your responses and your words of support, and I cry when I read them because I can&#8217;t believe how lucky I am to have this community.</span></p><p><span>When I&#8217;m feeling my absolute lowest, I know I&#8217;m going to be OK because you&#8217;re all here.</span></p><p><span>And yeah, I&#8217;m writing this through tears because I&#8217;ve been crying a lot lately over something that truly breaks my heart.</span></p><p><span>So I&#8217;m sorry if there are a few typos.</span></p><p><span>&#128153; Jo</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" 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you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Give a gift subscription&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true"><span>Give a gift subscription</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jo and BDD Live. Ahead of Trump's BS election fraud “address."]]></title><description><![CDATA[A recording from JoJoFromJerz's live video]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jo-and-bdd-live-ahead-of-trumps-bs</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jo-and-bdd-live-ahead-of-trumps-bs</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:46:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/207344908/1251edb4056a64d4f49d3411fff00d1b.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Politics And Aphrodisiacs&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:176477101,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@authorownstory&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/c6e0d5f7-c56e-45c4-bcc6-c6fcdb927c6a_826x602.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;547145ea-2e66-4617-bea6-1a8b5c55b97f&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Patty&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:197154982,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@kararory&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5aad2d2a-9e67-4b2b-887d-0ec160b728fc_4032x3024.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;cef3c749-fdd4-4de5-897c-305bb2fd689a&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Karen Polychrones&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:141872818,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@spintelly&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/8ed7b414-4801-405b-8b17-d22f01a2578e_1125x867.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;37672864-854e-4b78-93aa-ee010c2de891&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Pam Humphrey&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:2419016,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@pahumphrey&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/07e3473e-1768-4e79-88ad-f76123f50d10_647x504.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;581d1ca1-a5f0-41d5-820d-bfbf963ed696&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Neva P&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:140187301,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@nevapetersen&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/7c63d377-aa0f-4d75-8d35-942f73e086dd_3022x3022.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;c376b155-97f7-4dad-ba0f-d51bbae966bd&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video with <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;BrooklynDad_Defiant!&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:25479272,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@brooklyndaddefiant&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XSTu!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F82204c90-dfaa-47ee-ad15-3f30ee3b1fe6_1436x2028.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;95d59488-7c79-4e46-8444-6d826b7b210a&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jo-and-bdd-live-ahead-of-trumps-bs/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jo-and-bdd-live-ahead-of-trumps-bs/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jo-and-bdd-live-ahead-of-trumps-bs?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jo-and-bdd-live-ahead-of-trumps-bs?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Give a gift subscription&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true"><span>Give a gift subscription</span></a></p><p></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jay Clayton Cannot Be DNI]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Job Is to Protect America. Not Donald Trump.]]></description><link>https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jay-clayton-cannot-be-dni</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jay-clayton-cannot-be-dni</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[JoJoFromJerz]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:21:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/207291386/79670b2f4b9cc9dd0ccc2c1baa3230a2.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span>Look, I don&#8217;t ask for much.</span></p><p><span>I like air conditioning that doesn&#8217;t cough out one lonely puff of lukewarm disappointment every thirty-seven seconds like an emphysemic Chihuahua trying to cool a Costco while looking at me like I&#8217;ve somehow become the villain for expecting refrigerative participation.</span></p><p><span>I like enough lemon with my shrimp cocktail to make the Gulf of Mexico file a missing-citrus report.</span></p><p><span>I like it when my son remembers the toilet seat is not a medieval drawbridge that has to remain permanently hoisted skyward in case an emergency platoon of dicks comes galloping over the horizon on horseback.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;m a pretty simple broad.</span></p><p><span>The list of things I want, hope for, or expect from the universe is not particularly ambitious. I&#8217;m not out here demanding miracles, celestial intervention, or a private audience with the patron saint of finding the correct Tupperware lid on the first fucking try.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;m certainly not holding out for a talking lobster named Monica who chain-smokes Virginia Slims on the back patio, dispenses catastrophically bad relationship advice with the confidence of a divorced couples therapist, insists every problem in life can be solved with paprika, and somehow always knows which neighbor is cheating on their spouse before the spouse does.</span></p><p><span>Nor am I expecting some cheerful, chipper, compulsively domestic laundry lunatic whose deepest fucking passion is steaming pillowcases, pairing orphan socks, whispering words of affirmation to Egyptian cotton, and removing fitted sheets from the dryer before they harden into a damp, hostile boulder roughly the size and emotional temperament of Chris Christie.</span></p><p><span>Hell, I&#8217;m not even asking for the New York Giants to win the Super Bowl this year, because unlike certain people occupying positions of tremendous authority, I possess at least a passing acquaintance with the difference between optimism and a full-blown dissociative episode.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif" width="640" height="360" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:360,&quot;width&quot;:640,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:2753497,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/gif&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207291386?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mFWl!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0368bad1-7ca0-405d-bc85-acee5408719c_640x360.gif 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>You take my point.</span></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t spend my mornings standing in the backyard shaking my fist at the heavens because existence once again failed to provide me with a house-trained peacock named Darren, a sentient dishwasher that pays property taxes, or a tiny Portuguese maintenance man who lives behind my dryer, emerges every third Thursday to clean the lint trap while muttering aggressively in two languages, and disappears before I can thank him.</span></p><p><span>My expectations are modest.</span></p><p><span>Embarrassingly modest, frankly.</span></p><p><span>So I really don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m reaching here.</span></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t think I&#8217;m asking the cosmos to perform interpretive surgery on the laws of physics.</span></p><p><span>I don&#8217;t think this is one of those &#8220;be careful what you wish for&#8221; situations where a cursed genie climbs out of a decorative hummus bowl and starts negotiating contractual loopholes in ancient Aramaic.</span></p><p><span>I am asking for one thing.</span></p><p><span>One.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;d like the person entrusted with overseeing some of the most sensitive national security intelligence on the face of the Earth to be capable of recognizing reality without first checking whether reality is going to upset the President or cause the self-appointed Emperor of Alternative Facts to stomp around the Oval Office like somebody hid the last Filet-O-Fish.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s it.</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s my moonshot.</span></p><p><span>I need somebody who can tell me that two plus two equals four.</span></p><p><span>Not somebody who responds, &#8220;The President enjoys broad constitutional discretion in assessing competing numerical frameworks, and while I don&#8217;t want to prejudge hypothetical arithmetic, I think it&#8217;s fair to say there are sincerely held views on both sides of the equation, and I&#8217;d be reluctant to substitute my judgment for the Executive&#8217;s evolving understanding of addition.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s four.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s fucking four.</span></p><p><span>And if the Director of National Intelligence can&#8217;t say that because he&#8217;s worried the President might prefer five, then I don&#8217;t trust him to tell the President he&#8217;s wrong about the things that actually get Americans killed.</span></p><p><span>Not charisma.</span></p><p><span>Not bedside manner.</span></p><p><span>Not somebody who can do a backflip while reciting the periodic table.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;d settle for a grown-ass adult who can look at a blue sky and say, &#8220;Yep&#8230; that&#8217;s blue,&#8221; even if the occupant of the Oval Office is standing three feet away insisting it&#8217;s chartreuse with lavender racing stripes because he saw it on Truth Social somewhere between a conspiracy theory, an all-caps grievance, commemorative silver coins, and whatever miracle paste they&#8217;re marketing to eighty-year-old men who still think mirrors are the problem.</span></p><p><span>If I hold up a photograph of a golden retriever, I need him to say, &#8220;That&#8217;s a golden retriever.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Not, &#8220;Well&#8230; it has certainly been identified by multiple observers as a mammalian entity.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Not, &#8220;Reasonable people have expressed differing views regarding species.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Not, &#8220;The matter has been extensively litigated.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s a fucking dog.</span></p><p><span>Say &#8220;dog.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>That&#8217;s the job.</span></p><p><span>The Director of National Intelligence isn&#8217;t America&#8217;s Chief Feelings Officer.</span></p><p><span>He isn&#8217;t the White House&#8217;s emotional support intern wandering into the Oval Office every morning with a weighted blanket, a juice box, and twenty-seven carefully edited intelligence briefings scrubbed, sanded, sanitized, softened, and sweetened until every inconvenient fact has been safely removed.</span></p><p><span>His mission is almost offensively simple.</span></p><p><span>Tell the truth.</span></p><p><span>Even when the truth is ugly.</span></p><p><span>Even when it detonates somebody&#8217;s manufactured &#8220;narrative.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>Most of all then.</span></p><p><span>Reality has this irritating little personality flaw.</span></p><p><span>It doesn&#8217;t negotiate.</span></p><p><span>It doesn&#8217;t flatter.</span></p><p><span>It doesn&#8217;t pander.</span></p><p><span>It doesn&#8217;t care about polling.</span></p><p><span>It doesn&#8217;t care about propaganda.</span></p><p><span>It doesn&#8217;t care how loudly somebody screams at it on Truth Social.</span></p><p><span>And it sure as shit doesn&#8217;t give one single chicken-fried fuck how it makes Manbaby McMoron feeeeeel.</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><span>This wasn&#8217;t a history quiz.</span></p><p><span>This wasn&#8217;t some pointless little exercise in political trivia designed to embarrass a nominee on C-SPAN while six insomniacs and one guy trapped in a dentist&#8217;s waiting room happened to be watching.</span></p><p><span>This was a stress test.</span></p><p><span>A spine check.</span></p><p><span>A character test conducted in real time.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg" width="1024" height="683" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:683,&quot;width&quot;:1024,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:105585,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207291386?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!BMHt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6bd8825c-ed82-4967-8d6b-3bec7beadf69_1024x683.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>The Director of National Intelligence isn&#8217;t just another cabinet secretary with a nice business card and a government SUV.</span></p><p><span>This is the person the President turns to when satellites spot missile silos lighting up halfway around the world.</span></p><p><span>When a hostile foreign government starts probing our electrical grid like a burglar jiggling doorknobs at three o&#8217;clock in the morning.</span></p><p><span>When cyberattacks ripple through hospitals.</span></p><p><span>When sleeper cells start waking up.</span></p><p><span>When intelligence officers stationed in places you&#8217;ve never heard of whisper into secure phones that something very, very bad is about to happen.</span></p><p><span>The people in that room don&#8217;t deal in campaign slogans.</span></p><p><span>They don&#8217;t traffic in wishful thinking.</span></p><p><span>They don&#8217;t get to sprinkle glitter on reality, shove it through a focus group, and see whether it polls better after everybody&#8217;s had sandwiches.</span></p><p><span>Their entire job is to walk into rooms full of extraordinarily powerful people and say,</span></p><p><span>&#8220;Here&#8217;s what we know.&#8221;</span></p><p><span>However inconvenient.</span></p><p><span>However costly.</span></p><p><span>However completely it dismantles the story somebody powerful has already decided to believe.</span></p><p><span>That is precisely when it matters most.</span></p><p><span>I&#8217;d argue that&#8217;s the whole damn reason the office exists.</span></p><p><span>Intelligence that only tells a president what he wants to hear isn&#8217;t intelligence.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s astrology with a security clearance.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s fan fiction in a classified binder.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s propaganda wearing sensible loafers, a flag pin, and carrying a top-secret badge.</span></p><p><span>But Jay fucking Clayton couldn&#8217;t answer one painfully obvious question.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/atlanta/news/sen-jon-ossoff-presses-dni-nominee-jay-clayton-on-2020-election-who-repeatedly-refuses-to-say-biden-won/"><span>He couldn&#8217;t say three little words when Senator Mark Kelly and Senator Jon Ossoff asked him who won the 2020 election.</span></a></p><p><span>He couldn&#8217;t say:</span></p><p><span>Joe.</span></p><p><span>Biden.</span></p><p><span>Won.</span></p><p><span>Four syllables.</span></p><p><span>Apparently four syllables too many.</span></p><p><span>Why?</span></p><p><span>Because he knew those three simple, objectively true words would upset the oafish, orange, out-of-his-goddamn-mind octogenarian who nominated him.</span></p><p><span>This is a man who once chaired the Securities and Exchange Commission. A man whose reputation, before all of this, was that of a serious lawyer and an independent regulator. Someone entrusted with enforcing the law no matter whose ox got gored.</span></p><p><span>And there he sat.</span></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg" width="588" height="402" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:402,&quot;width&quot;:588,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:33028,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/i/207291386?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lSGZ!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F340be8a0-d27a-4096-8d2c-610d2237eb75_588x402.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg aria-hidden="true" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p><span>Unable to utter three factual words because, somewhere along the way, pleasing Donald Trump became more important than the truth.</span></p><p><span>For the life of me, I will never understand why intelligent, accomplished, otherwise respected people choose to humiliate themselves for a corrupt, criminal, imbecilic sociopath.</span></p><p><span>There is no office prestigious enough.</span></p><p><span>No title shiny enough.</span></p><p><span>No proximity to power intoxicating enough.</span></p><p><span>No portrait hanging in some marble hallway worth surrendering your integrity for.</span></p><p><span>And yet here we are.</span></p><p><span>Watching another capable adult carefully audition for the role of Professional Reality Translator, standing between objective fact and an eighty-year-old man who apparently requires all unpleasant information to be wrapped in emotional bubble wrap before it can be delivered.</span></p><p><span>That isn&#8217;t leadership.</span></p><p><span>That isn&#8217;t loyalty.</span></p><p><span>It&#8217;s institutional cowardice dressed up in a tailored suit.</span></p><p><span>And if Jay Clayton couldn&#8217;t bring himself to say &#8220;Joe Biden won the 2020 election&#8221; when Donald Trump wasn&#8217;t even in the room&#8230;</span></p><p><span>What the fuck do you think happens when he is?</span></p><p><span>We didn&#8217;t create the Office of the Director of National Intelligence because Washington needed another title engraved on another brass plaque outside another government building.</span></p><p><span>We created it because, on one cloudless September morning, nearly three thousand people kissed someone they loved goodbye, walked out the front door believing they would be home for dinner, and instead disappeared into smoke, fire, collapsing steel, and history.</span></p><p><span>We created it because children grew up with stories instead of parents, because empty chairs became permanent fixtures at kitchen tables across America, because an entire country learned that the distance between ordinary life and unimaginable loss can be measured in a failure to connect the dots before it was too late.</span></p><p><span>That office is part of the promise we made standing in the ashes.</span></p><p><span>Not a political promise.</span></p><p><span>Not a campaign promise.</span></p><p><span>A sacred one.</span></p><p><span>A promise that never again would truth be allowed to die in silence because it was inconvenient, fragmented, ignored, or buried beneath bureaucracy, ambition, fear, or the fragile ego of a powerful man. A promise that somewhere, no matter who occupied the Oval Office, there would always be one person whose loyalty belonged first and last to reality itself. Someone who would gather every intercepted call, every satellite image, every frightened whisper from a source half a world away, every jagged fragment of a gathering storm, and carry it into the Oval Office exactly as it existed, unsoftened, unedited, and unafraid.</span></p><p><span>Truth has never cared about anybody&#8217;s politics.</span></p><p><span>It has never cared about polling.</span></p><p><span>It has never paused to protect a president from humiliation or a narcissist from embarrassment.</span></p><p><span>It simply arrives, indifferent and uncompromising, and demands to be reckoned with before the bill comes due in blood.</span></p><p><span>The day the Director of National Intelligence decides his highest obligation is protecting Donald Trump instead of protecting the truth is the day that office stops honoring the promise forged in the ashes of September 11th and becomes something infinitely more dangerous: another weapon in the hands of the very man it was created to protect us from.</span></p><p><span>And if we allow one man&#8217;s vanity, vengeance, and voracious appetite for absolute loyalty to become more important than the truth that office was created to defend, then we have done something far worse than forget why it exists.</span></p><p><span>We have looked into the smoke where nearly three thousand Americans took their last breaths. We promised ourselves they would not have died in vain. We swore that we would learn. We swore that we would do better. We swore that never again would loyalty to power outrank loyalty to truth.</span></p><p><span>If we break that promise now, then we haven&#8217;t merely failed to keep our word.</span></p><p><span>We have broken faith with every family that buried someone on September 11th.</span></p><p><span>We have looked into the ashes of one of the darkest days in our history and quietly decided that the promise we made there was only ever meant to last until it became politically inconvenient.</span></p><p><span>Some covenants are too sacred to be kept through speeches alone.</span></p><p><span>They endure only when ordinary people find the courage to tell powerful men the truth.</span></p><p><span>Especially when the man occupying the Oval Office has spent his entire public life proving he cares more about himself than he does about the United States.</span></p><p><span>Jay Clayton is not fit to serve as Director of National Intelligence.</span></p><p><span>Because he showed the Senate that his first allegiance is not to objective reality.</span></p><p><span>It is not to the memory of those we lost on that dark September day.</span></p><p><span>It is not to the safety of the American people.</span></p><p><span>It is to Trump.</span></p><p><span>And with that, today&#8217;s song:</span></p><div id="youtube2-TLV4_xaYynY" class="youtube-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;videoId&quot;:&quot;TLV4_xaYynY&quot;,&quot;startTime&quot;:null,&quot;endTime&quot;:null}" data-component-name="Youtube2ToDOM"><div class="youtube-inner"><iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TLV4_xaYynY?rel=0&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;enablejsapi=0" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" gesture="media" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowautoplay="true" allowfullscreen="true" width="728" height="409"></iframe></div></div><p><span>I love you guys!</span></p><p><span>Stay strong, stay safe, and please stay connected to each other!</span></p><p><span>I appreciate all of you more than I could ever put into words.</span></p><p><span>Life has thrown something at me that has been genuinely difficult. Not the old bully, thankfully. That chapter finally seems to have closed, and I can&#8217;t tell you what a relief that is.</span></p><p><span>But a new challenge has arrived, and if I&#8217;m honest, it&#8217;s been weighing on me in ways I&#8217;m still trying to understand.</span></p><p><span>The only reason I&#8217;ve been able to keep putting one foot in front of the other, to keep showing up with my head held high, is because of this community. Your kindness, your encouragement, your belief in me, even on days when I&#8217;m struggling to believe in myself, have carried me farther than you&#8217;ll ever know.</span></p><p><span>Thank you for being here. Truly. I don&#8217;t take a single one of you for granted.</span></p><p><span>&#128153; Jo</span></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jay-clayton-cannot-be-dni/comments&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Leave a comment&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jay-clayton-cannot-be-dni/comments"><span>Leave a comment</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jay-clayton-cannot-be-dni?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/p/jay-clayton-cannot-be-dni?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share  Are you f'ng kidding me?</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Give a gift subscription&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://jojofromjerz.substack.com/subscribe?&amp;gift=true"><span>Give a gift subscription</span></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>