09/30/25
Good morning! It’s Tuesday, September 30th.
National Podcast Day
Well… well… well…
Well well well well well well well
… we don’t need a whole day.
I do! And frankly, I deserve it.
Podcasters don’t.
And now, the news.
Gaza Peace Deal
Starting in Gaza, or I guess technically, the White House, where it was announced that Donald J. Trump, he of the insurrection and found liable of sexual assault, will chair an international “board of peace.”
And I, for one, think that’s a great idea. No notes!
So, let’s talk about what’s actually going on here –
On Monday a 20-point plan was released by the White House, which Netanyahu loved (he was at the White House to discuss said peace deal), will see Trump as the chair of what they’re calling a “transitional” body that will oversee the framework and development of the Gaza Strip, until the Palestinian Authority (which will be the new governing body – Hamas will have nothing to do with governing) has met the stated conditions to assume governance.
Now, in case you’re like… thinking the same thoughts I was, former British Prime Minster Tony Blair will also be on the board. Fear not! If you’re wondering how Trump and Blair will get along: “He’s a soft touch, he’ll be easy to deal with.”
That’s Trump talking about Blair.
That’s one person, talking about another person, with whom is on a peace board to solve the crisis in the middle east, just being like… eh, don’t worry. I’ll be able to push him around
But listen, I’m choosing optimism. I’m choosing to believe this is a positive step forward – if Hamas accepts.
So it’s a classic peace deal/ultimatum.
Because from the White House, the chair of peace himself said that if Hamas didn’t sign off on this peace deal, the United States will let Israel “do what you would have to do.”
This guy… so much peace! Peace coming out the wazoo!
In response, a senior Hamas official said, “When it comes to this plan, no one contacted us, nor were we part of the negotiations around it.”
Uh huh.
So there are still many questions left here. The biggest of course is – will Hamas accept?
Shutdown Fight
Today is the 30th!
Which means by midnight tonight, Congress needs to make a deal on the budget. Can they let bygones be bygones for the betterment of our country?
Just kidding… imagine!
On Monday, Democratic and Republican leaders left a meeting with Trump without a deal.
A classic game of chicken where jobs hang in the balance because the moment midnight hits, if there’s no budget, hundreds of thousands of government employees go on furlough without pay. So I’m sure those hundreds of thousands of people are thrilled by all of this.
“At the core of it is – the Democrats don’t want to sign off on a budget that takes healthcare away from Americans, while Republicans… you know… do.”
And Trump doesn’t want to sign a budget that makes Democrats happy.
I’ll tell ya what’s not helping anything – and by anything I mean, the country or this budget situation. Following the meeting that got nowhere, Trump took to his ironically-titled Truth Social and posted this awful AI-generated video that features House Minority Leader Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Schumer. Jeffries has a fake mustache and is wearing a sombrero, and says nothing. Schumer’s character says they have no voters because of their woke BS and that if they give undocumented immigrants (obviously that’s not the term the video uses, but it also doesn’t say BS – I just choose not to cuss in this show, unlike in my real life), anyway, if they give undocumented immigrants healthcare maybe they can pick up their votes because they don’t speak English. Mariachi music plays in the background.
Today’s the day, we’ll see what happens.
One senior GOP aide, speaking anonymously, said that after seeing that video, this could top the 2019 shutdown that lasted 35 days.
Because the President of the United States just couldn’t help himself and had to post a wildly racist AI-generated video.
Neat. Neat president more than half of this country’s active voters voted for.
YouTube
-via Deadline
You know how people say money can’t buy happiness and then I always say sure but $10 million a year or I walk would probably make me feel pretty good?
I’m starting to think it can’t buy happiness for everyone. Because Trump keeps getting more money and that is a deeply unhappy man. If Elle Woods taught us anything (and she taught us many things) it’s that happy people don’t kill their husbands or post racist memes that cause the government to shut down.
Anyway, on Monday YouTube agreed to pay a $24.5 million settlement to Trump after they suspended him from the platform for doing insurrection. $22 million will go to Trump’s precious ballroom and another $2.5 million will go to other plantiffs in the case.
He’s being so weird about this ballroom! No one will want to dance with you!
Build all the ballrooms you want – none of them will ever be a time machine and bring you back to prom and have your dad straighten your bowtie and tell you that you look really great and he’s proud of the man you’re growing up to be, and he noticed the other day that you’ve been getting really into your drama classes and it’s okay if you want to be an actor. I still support you. We can talk about it later, in the meantime, go have a great prom kiddo and then you get to prom and the person you really wanted to dance with, actually danced with you.
These ballrooms can’t fix that, but it sure seems like you’re gonna try, aren’t you?
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Something weird is happening with Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Hey. Heeeey.
Stop it.
Eh, actually no we bully the bullies and frankly she deserves it however – it’s never too late to do the right thing and we have to acknowledge that people are confusing and not everyone can be as perfect as me (if only wishing made it so. I wish! I wish I could clone myself! I world of Kims? Just running around being like I was right about Ted Lasso! You just wait until that EGOT happens! Beep bop bop something about Kelly Clarkson… I need a hobby)
ANYWAY… “People are complicated little creatures, and Marj here, while she has represented some truly heinous things, she’s been unobjectively racist and sexist and all the -ists, has also always had a hard line when it comes to the Epstein files.” Where most of Trump’s followers have spent years saying: we better see those files! All of em! All of em until my most precious and fragile president whose never done anything wrong, ever, is one them. And then I’ve never barely ever even heard of a gortar. File? What’s that word?
Greene, however – no no.
She has broken with the administration in other ways too. In July she was the first Republican to call what’s happening in Gaza a genocide. Earlier this yearti, she said that if she’d bothered to read Trump’s Big Beauitful Big (still mortifying that that’s the name), she would have voted against it because of the lack of AI guardrails. Tragically, she didn’t do her job and read the bill, but still… if only!
But when it comes to the Epstein files – she’s never dropped it.
Over the weekend, this longform article came out about her in New York Times and then over the weekend she posted to Twitter - “I am not suicidal and one of the happiest healthiest people you will meet. With that said, if something happens to me, I ask you all to find out which foreign government or powerful people would take heinous actions to stop the information from coming out.”
So… I don’t know what’s going on with Marj.
I’m glad she’s not suicidal! We want everyone to be, you know, feeling that way. But it’s an odd thing to say.
I don’t really have a point to this story except to say… something’s going on with Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Also at work when we were talking about this, my boss said “is she the one that’s Beetlejuice?” and that’s Lara Loomer. And I knew right away, and I don’t know if that’s more of a bummer for me or Lara Loomer.
And that’s it. That’s the news.
I’m proud of… hey’s it’s also National Love People Day and don’t make it weird, just be nice. We should all put more love into the world. In a not weird way!
But more than that – because I don’t need to put more love into the world when it comes to you and yet, AND YET, every single day I wake up and think: I’m gonna put just a smidge more out there for ya today because you deserve it… I’m proud of you.