The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal
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The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal
Ep 1028: Here Come The Bribes!
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Episode 1028: We open with a surprising local story: former Illinois House GOP leader Jim Durkin endorsing Democrat JB Pritzker over Republican Darren Bailey, exposing deep cracks in the state party even as MAGA loyalists like Mary Miller double down. Then we trace Trump's escalating bribery strategy as the midterms approach, from $5,000 promises at a half-empty Dallas rally to $500 Obamacare rebate checks mysteriously concentrated in battleground states to surprise $90 Medicare payments raided from a fund meant for something else entirely. The episode also spotlights a local TV personality's dubious rise to assistant White House press secretary, built on a resignation story the station disputes and a degree she never finished. It's about fear, greed, and why a cornered con man reaches for the checkbook when the scare tactics stop working.
Thanks for listening! Driftglass and Blue Gal
Links for this episode:
The New Yorker, Donald Trump's Pardon Economy https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/05/04/donald-trumps-pardon-economy
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SPEAKER_05This is the podcast for October 6th, 2026. It's not safe for work.
SPEAKER_06Recorded live from the Cornfield Resistance, where the first Republican president is buried, and the local Republican Party can't stop punching themselves in the face. It's the professional left with drift glass and bluegal.
SPEAKER_05And look, we're going to mix things up a little bit today. Regular listeners know that we usually go for some big theme at the beginning, and then we do a national news roundup, and then sometimes we have a local story at the end or whatever. That's sort of the framework of our podcast. And today we're going to have to shake things up a little bit because in local news, there's a story that we think deserves more attention. And it involves the endorsements of gubernatorial candidates. Take it away, Jim Durkin.
SPEAKER_04Hello, I'm Jim Durkin. I'm a Republican, and I've been a leader in the Republican Party for many years. I believe in responsible fiscal stewardship, fairness, and respect for all. I proudly served Illinois in the General Assembly for over two decades as a representative and as the House Republican leader for a decade. We have two choices for governor this November. J.B. Pritzker or my former colleague Darren Bailey, who served under me. It's unfortunate, but I cannot cast my vote for my party's nominee. I served with Darren Bailey in Springfield, and I know what he is and isn't capable of. Bailey stands for exclusion over inclusion, and his politics are of subtraction over addiction. His politics don't work for me nor the Republican Party I know. He's never accomplished anything for Illinois, and he's not cut off for the job. Frankly, he cannot be trusted to lead our state. I may not agree with JB on everything, but he's a good person and he has delivered on matters important to me and to the state. Things like common sense firearm regulation, 12 credit upgrades, and investing in our state's infrastructure. In this election, I'm not going to waste my vote. I'm voting for Governor J.B. Pritzker.
SPEAKER_06Yes, kids, that was not a parody or a deep fake or whatever the kids are calling it these days. This is from the Chicago Tribune yesterday. Quote: Former Illinois House GOP leader Jim Durkin endorses Democrat J.B. Pritzker over Republican Darren Bailey, accentuating the schisms that have helped make the Republicans the super minority political party, and they are just a super, super minority here. In Illinois, former Illinois House GOP leader Jim Durkin said he is endorsing Democrat Governor J.B. Pritzker for a third-term over Republican nominee Darren Bailey in the November 3rd general election. His campaign is going nowhere and he's on a foolish escapade, uh Durkin said of Bailey, adding that the Republican governor nominee has, quote, a delusional, eaglo maniacal, a part, ego maniacal view of the world, unquote. I'm sorry, I'm just gobsmacked at how he's he's slapping him around pretty good. Uh Durkin's refusal to support Bailey's second consecutive bid against Pritzker is not surprising, but his public endorsement of the Democrat in a video, the governor's campaign is scheduled to release Monday, and they did, marks a major break for Durkin, who still considers himself a Republican. I look at something that he, Pritzker, has done, and this is nothing that Darren Bailey could ever, in his wildest dreams, if he was governor, would ever be able to accomplish, Jerkin said. We've got to shed Darren Bailey from the party.
SPEAKER_05Wow.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Yeah. He has to be unpersoned from the party. Wow. And I'm speaking for myself, but I'm not going to throw away or waste a vote for governor this November, and that's why I'm voting for J.B. Pritzker. Unquote.
SPEAKER_05There is no way that anyone who believed in fiscal responsibility could not support J.B. Pritzker. No, no. With 12 credit upgrades for the state in one term.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, if you're a Republican who's like, that's my jam, fiscal responsibility, etc., anybody who believes in science or history or please keep your fucking bibli biblical literalism out of the governor's office, uh, could uh any cultural issue couldn't vote for him either.
SPEAKER_05Right. So and but it's the same for Trump. And this is the thing. This is the thing that we're finding.
SPEAKER_06Well, this is why we talked about, I think last episode, about the 38% or 31%. It's always that number.
SPEAKER_05That's Sarah Palin floor. Yeah. Yeah. It's important to underscore that Durkin is not some relic from the before time forgotten by history and popping up and as an old man leaving the old folks home to come out and and endorse someone. Uh he was the minority leader of the Illinois House of Representatives three years ago.
SPEAKER_06Yep.
SPEAKER_05He was appointed to the Illinois House of Representatives on January 6, 1995, and served until 2002. In 2006, he was appointed, that was 20 years ago, but he was appointed to the Illinois Senate to replace Judy Bartopinka. In 2000, he was state chairman for John McCain's presidential campaign in Illinois. So he's an Illinois Republican.
SPEAKER_06Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_05And then in 2007, he was Illinois co-chair and national legislative co-chair for McCain's second presidential campaign in Illinois, running against Barack Obama. After Illinois Republicans got stomped again in 2022, Durkin announced he would not be running for re-election.
SPEAKER_06And the only other comparable figure in Illinois politics would have been Jim Edgar.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Who he was dying of cancer. Yeah. Lost his lustrous head of hair. By the way, he went used to go to our church. Um he uh he came out for J.B. Pritzker uh last election. And said Donald Trump is a is a blight on the on the Republican Party. But it was, he was sort of lost to history. He was a figure out of time. Yeah. You know, it was like, oh, I remember him vaguely from the 90s and green eye shade kind of guy.
SPEAKER_05He was one of the Republicans who didn't get arrested by being governor.
SPEAKER_06Or go or for being a trial molester, and we're talking about Dennis Haster, who we learned died today. So he died this week, yeah. Rod him held Denny Hastert. Uh but this he was a figure from the past, from the very, very deep past that sort of was still prominent and still a Republican, but it never made the headlines like this did, because this is this guy was like, like you said, three years ago was the leader, minority leader three years ago. Yeah. Anyway, so all that happened, and then and then this happened. This is, and then I'm referring to something that happened four years ago. So bear with me, I'm messing with the timeline. From the Chicago Sun Times, November 11th, 2022, four years ago. Quote, in a no-hold sparred interview with the uh Sun Times, the 13th interview he gave on Thursday, Durkin raised the state's uh I'm sorry, rated the state's last five governors, bashed former President Donald Trump, and railed on the current climate of the state's Republican Party. He's part of a vanishing breed in Illinois, a moderate Republican, more interested in reaching across the aisle than giving the ruling Democrats the back of his hand. But Western Springs Republican Jim Durkin is relinquishing his role as House Minority Leader, a largely thankless job as his party moved further to the right and the state moved further to the left. And he said being called a rhino is a badge of honor. That stands for Republican in Name Only, a taunt conservatives spit at moderates and an idea that Durkin argues is killing his party, unquote. Now, all in all, I really don't have much sympathy for Mr. Durkin, but I really don't have a lot of enmity towards him either. You know, on the one hand, it looks like he's trying to make amends. So good for him. But on the other hand, not endorsing a doomed tomato can like Bailey and endorsing Pritzker, who's gonna beat Bailey like that proverbial rented mule, is a very low-risk investment in future political and media viability for a for a former Republican who sees no place for himself in the current Illinois GOP. So, you know, we'll see what happens. But on the other other hand, he did bail on his party and correctly identify the rot within it that starts at the very top. And so far, he hasn't tried to tell Democrats how to run our party, for which I'm a little appreciative, or insists that the only path forward for Democrats is to move further to the right.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, he hasn't done that yet.
SPEAKER_06But on the other hand, he did wait until it looked like Trump was safely headed for the ash heap of history before discovering his inner dissident.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_06The Illinois Republican Party didn't become deranged when Donald Trump came along. Trump just gave the derangement a national brand.
SPEAKER_05Yep. Yep. Exhibit A from the Illinois Times, our local indie paper, uh this is from August 12th, 2004. Quote, Keys to Victory, and Keys is spelled K-E-Y-E-S.
SPEAKER_06Why is that, Blue Gal?
SPEAKER_05Well, because this is 2004, which who ran for the Senate in 2004 from Illinois and won?
SPEAKER_06This is this is 22 years ago. This is almost a full generation ago.
SPEAKER_0522 years ago, Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate.
SPEAKER_06He was, and he beat this guy.
SPEAKER_05He beat this guy. The Illinois Republican Party goes to extremes to find a Senate candidate. The new Illinois Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, and I want to remind you from Illinois, the Illinois candidate is Maryland activist Alan Keyes. He may be most famous for his most liberal act, jumping into a mosh pit while Rage Against the Machine performed, body surfing the crowd, and exchanging body slams with a spiky-haired teen as a means of getting filmmaker Michael Moore's endorsement for president in 2000.
SPEAKER_06It was a different time, kid. It was a different time.
SPEAKER_05As Moore put it, we knew Alan Keyes was insane. We just didn't know how insane until that moment. Insane is an adjective that voters may be hearing a lot in association with Keyes before November 2nd. The reason? The opinionated candidate has a long record of far-right statements that have been largely overlooked. In the 1996 and 2000 Republican presidential contests, no candidate saw Keyes as a threat or wanted to risk criticizing an African American. Since then, Keyes has been a little-noticed commentator favored by the extreme right wing. That will soon change, and many of Key's comments may shock the Republican moderates, who grudgingly accepted him as their candidate. I want to repeat that. Illinois Republicans, when Barack Obama successfully gained the nomination for Senate, decided they had to have a black.
SPEAKER_06Well, let's let's be let's let's set the record straight.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06When he when Barack Obama initially faced a candidate named Jack Ryan.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_06Jack Ryan, who was going to be the Republican candidate, had the good hair, oh great hair, beautiful wife. His wife is Jerry Ryan, who you may know as Seven of Nine from Star Trek.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Movie star.
SPEAKER_06Movie star. Just a gorgeous couple. The future is unlimited. And he apparently he uh he took her to sex parties to show off what a sexy, sexy man he was. And she's that was in their that was in their divorce papers.
SPEAKER_05Divorce papers.
SPEAKER_06Which the Obama people got unsealed for the election. So exit Jack Ryan.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06So what are we gonna do? Well, the Republican Party has nominated a black man. Democrats have dominated a black man to run for the Senate in Illinois. It looks like he's he might win. Holy shit, we gotta get a black guy.
SPEAKER_05We gotta get a black guy. It really was that blatant. It was.
SPEAKER_06And so they imported this lunatic from Maryland because it didn't matter what he said or who he was or what he stood for, how nuts he was. What mattered was the color of his skin, not the content of his character. That's all that matters to him.
SPEAKER_05When they chose their uh chairman of their party, yes, Michael Steele Barack Obama was elected president.
SPEAKER_06Michael Steele was put in that position. I don't care what he says, I don't care what his friends on MSNBC, MS Now say, I don't care how much they protested. He was hired into that job so the Republican Party could have a black man out in front so they could point to him and say, see, see, we're not bigots. We got one too. And that is exactly why he got that job and why he's exactly why he got fired then, too. Well, he tried to actually do some things, and Rush Limbaugh dropped the house on him, and then he had to go growling to Rush Limbaugh for forgiveness.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_06And the party just finally said, Nah, screw it. We don't we we don't need a a hood ornament anymore.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Uh we don't give a shit. Be on your way. And and he was the one who said, you know, he he went halfway there. He did say, you know, there was a thing called the Southern Strategy, and there was a thing that, you know, that we did some terrible things. But you know, all the racists moved back to the Democrats when when uh when Bill Clinton ran. That was his excuse for his racist Republican Party. They all just boogied out of the party when Bill Clinton ran for president. And there's no more racists in the GOP. That was how Michael Steele got to sleep at night, I suppose. That was his big fat lie about his own party because he wanted the job because he wasn't going to go anyplace in any other party, in any other position. So he took it, and now he has his own troll on MS now. Yeah. And he's uh a resistance leader, and we all have agreed to forget that he was ever this other guy. Anyway, yeah, back to the Illinois Times.
SPEAKER_05Yes, back to the Illinois Times. In 2002, Keyes argued that the abortion issue should determine the outcome of every election. This issue alone, which I believe dominates our moral decline as a people, should decide this and every election cycle, he said. During a campaign appearance in Bedford, New Hampshire in 2000, Keyes, I think he was running for president, right? In 2000? Oh, yeah, yeah. Keyes asked a class of fifth graders, most of whom were 10 years old. If I were to lose my mind right now and pick one of you up and dash your head against the floor and kill you, would that be right?
SPEAKER_06Jesus.
SPEAKER_05He then went on to tell the children that some courts and politicians think it's okay to murder six-month-old children. Unquote.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. This guy also, I as I recall, disowned his gay daughter.
SPEAKER_05Yep. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Uh, because we couldn't have that in the party. So he he's just, but this is what was running around inside the Republican Party a generation ago. And but a generation before that, it was Rush Limpah. So, you know, this has been going on and on and on.
SPEAKER_05The idea that Trump's the first crazy Republican is absolutely not true.
SPEAKER_06And that suddenly you've noticed, oh my gosh, in 2022, oh my gosh, my party, there's something wrong with it. But with that, we're all out of hands. There's no other hand to move to, and so we're going to move to the other side of the Illinois Republican Party. That's the deranged ascendant side of the party, which last week held its annual Sangamon County, which is where we live, Republican Party women's fundraiser at the Illini Country Club.
SPEAKER_05Oh, fancy.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. And I looked at the pictures of it, and it's an event so white, it temporarily changed Sangamon County's albedo and dropped the temperature around here by at least 12 degrees. And one of the three keynote speakers at this very sparsely attended event was far, far right, MAGA whack job congresswoman running for re-election in Illinois's 15th, Mary Nazi Miller, who loves, loves, loves hers from Donald Trump. And this is her opinion of Darren Bailey. This is from her campaign Facebook page three weeks ago. Quote, I'm proud to stand with Darren Bailey in the fight to take back Illinois. Join us in Bloomington on Friday, September 25th for a special fundraiser supporting his campaign for governor, unquote.
SPEAKER_05The 107 comments on her Facebook post were almost universally graphic and very unkind. The nicest one we could find was this, and I think this comment is significant.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_05It quote, how about doing your job and providing an opportunity to talk with all your constituents? Let me know when you'll be having a town hall. I've got some questions. Unquote. And her opponent who we have met and and seen at an event. Jennifer Todd. Jennifer Todd. Jennifer Todd. Send your money to Jennifer Todd. We support Jennifer Todd. That the issue. She has made constituent services the issue. Because Mary Nazi Miller just wants to bow down to Trump and go to fundraisers at country clubs.
SPEAKER_06That's it. That's what she wants to do. Oh, and beyond Fox whenever they have her on. And her husband is part of that group that wants to secede from Illinois.
SPEAKER_05Secede from Illinois.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. It's a wonderful feeling.
SPEAKER_05What are you actually doing for your constituents is coming up more and more in this campaign. And I think, I mean, it is a gerrymander district. We have put all of the Republicans in in this district. So it's it's a tough climb for a Democrat to win, but it's going to be a lot closer than it was last time, at the very least. And Jennifer Todd's a very good candidate.
SPEAKER_06And we we would like to re-extend our open invitation to Jennifer Todd to come on this podcast and chat with us about your candidacy. I'd be happy to do it at your convenience, anytime, any place. Uh it's a Zoom thing, and we love having those kind of candidates on our program. We've had a few years.
SPEAKER_05We'll talk about Midwest values as Democrats.
SPEAKER_06And the fact that she's a nurse.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. And knows all about the health. Yeah. And uh and worth talking about. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_06So, what word would be appropriate to describe the state of the GOP today? Could it be disarray?
SPEAKER_05Well, take heart, little Republicans, because your dear leader is barnstorming the country, delivering inspirational messages like this. And with inspirational messages like this, this drift class, how could you lose?
SPEAKER_02Voter ID. You're voting on voter ID. Go out and vote. Even if you hate John Usted, even if you hate Vivek, Ramaswamy, you're gonna go out, you're gonna vote, and then you're gonna pull their triggers.
SPEAKER_06How about a little more Illinois news before we move on to all the bribery? This is from 217 Democrat. That's uh that that man or woman, not sure which, is sort of our local Aaron Rupart. They aggregate and pass along local political stories of interest along with commentary, and this is one from One Day Ago.
SPEAKER_05And by the way, 217 is our area code.
SPEAKER_06Our area code.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Um, it's not a mysterious code, it's an area code.
SPEAKER_05No.
SPEAKER_06This is the headline from WICS TV. That's one of our local TV stations to the White House. The Benny Ray Harmony story. Central Illinois has a familiar face joining the Trump administration. Benny Ray Harmony, formerly of WICS in Springfield, announced on October 2nd that she's becoming an assistant White House press secretary after serving as a White House correspondent for conservative outlet, Real America's Voice. Oh man. That just once you've broken through the bottom of the barrel, then White House. Yeah, that's the below the bottom of the barrel, you will find Real America's Voice.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06But the local story deserves more attention than the celebratory resume version. In September of 2025, Harmony announced her resignation from WCIS, claiming she'd been suspended after an on-air tribute to Charlie Kirk, her former boss. So checking every box there, Harmony. Uh WICS news director Heather Vaudry Nodeen directly disputes this account, telling the Illinois Times nobody at the station had been suspended or fired during the previous 90 days. Unquote.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Nobody had at all had been suspended or fired. And she was she was lying.
SPEAKER_06It certainly looks like it, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it does. And so she made herself out to be a martyr, a martyr to Charlie Kirk's memory. Because that sells better with MAGA morons. Okay. So 217 Democrat continues, quote, the station also disputed descriptions of Harmony as a news anchor. Nodeine said she worked in advertising. She hosted Marketplace. WICS's parent company described her job as a lifestyle host producer. But Harmony maintained that her work included covering community news. Unquote. Also, she uh lied about her qualifications because that's what gets your resume to the top of the slush pile at Newsmax or One America News or whatever. Real America's voice. Yes.
SPEAKER_06If I had to guess, Bluegall, I believe she's going to win the summarizing proofs contest.
SPEAKER_05Summarizing Proofs contest because of the shape of her bod, right? Yes, I believe that is correct, Blue Gal. All right. Uh quote uh this is back to 217 Democrat. That distinction matters. Working on television doesn't automatically make someone a newsroom journalist. You're kidding. Uh and an employee's account of a departure doesn't become established fact simply because enough Outlets repeat it. Then there was her education. Illinois Times reported that her LinkedIn resume indicated a UIS that's University of Illinois, Springfield.
SPEAKER_06Right down the street.
SPEAKER_05Political science degree. When questioned, Harmony acknowledged that she had not graduated and still needed credits. That was her status in September 2025. It does not establish whether she has completed the degree since. No, I don't think she went back to school, Drift Glass.
SPEAKER_06I think she has enough education, Blue. I think she's learned.
SPEAKER_05She has all the education she needs.
SPEAKER_06She's learned everything she needs to know.
SPEAKER_05Everything she needs to know. Yes, she has. Become assistant press secretary in the White House.
SPEAKER_06Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_05She also acknowledged removing her turning point USA experience, and I'm putting that in quotes, from her resume because she believed it would hurt her chances of getting media work. Now look, nobody this is this article, nobody needs a college degree to deserve an opportunity, but the accuracy of someone's credentials matters, especially when the next opportunity involves speaking for the president. Although, with the state of current administration telling falsehoods over reporting facts, would be seen as an asset. Harmony, that's her last name, joined Real America's Voice in September 2025. Just over a year later, she's moving from covering the Trump administration to formally representing it. Her announced position is assistant press secretary.
SPEAKER_06And the article continues quote: People can change careers, journalists can enter politics, conservatives can work in the media. None of that answers the specific questions raised by the local reporting. Why did the station contradict her suspension claim? Why did her resume indicate a degree she acknowledged she had not finished? Those questions should travel with the national headlines. A White House title is a substantial career opportunity. It also brings a substantial responsibility to give the public accurate information. Well, used to anyway. Security, I'm sorry, scrutiny should increase with that responsibility. I love that word should. Should. Big, big lifting there. As for voluntarily signing up to sell this administration's version of events, that's a career decision she gets to make and one the rest of us get to judge. Most people look for a lifeboat. Benny Ray Harmon applied to be the stewardess on the Titanic, unquote.
SPEAKER_05Benny Ray Harmony, yeah. She applied to be stewardess on the Titanic, all right.
SPEAKER_06Yep.
SPEAKER_05And if you think we just did that story because of the lifeboat reference, well, you're partially right. But mostly it's a case study in how wildly unqualified people can make it into government, particularly this government, when that government is run by an administration of criminals, degenerates, fanatics, and lunatics, especially as that administration starts to fall apart.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05And the And I will note that uh Trump's press secretary who left, uh Caroline Levitt, who left to spend time with her young children, has been gone for a hot minute and now she has a job on Fox.
SPEAKER_06Of course she does.
SPEAKER_05Of course she does.
SPEAKER_06No, she went to leave she went to spend time with the childlike people who watch Fox. That's what she meant to say. The childlike idiots who watch Fox.
SPEAKER_05Her time with her young children lasted about three and a half weeks.
SPEAKER_06Who are these little people who keep demanding things from me? Go away! Yeah. Yeah. Back off to Foxy went. Well, okay, enough of that. Now, on to the bribery. Now, as I've mentioned before on this very podcast, I'm sure, an acquaintance of mine long, long ago, who used to work in real estate in Chicago, uh, this is something straight out of Glenn Gary Glenn Ross, told me that at least once a week the boss of the office would give everyone, get everyone the fear and greed speech. That the only things that actually motivate people in life are fear and greed. So to sell them anything, you have to convince them that they'll lose out massively if they don't buy your dirt now, now, now. Their wife will leave them, their dicks will fall off, they'll spend their last days on this earth eating rat meat under a bridge while their children curse their name.
SPEAKER_05Or then there's greed. Yeah. If they act now, now, now, their future is assured. Great wealth awaits them just around the corner. And you all know how the hot, hot ladies love a rich guy. Well, before he became the worst, most corrupt, and most destructive president in American history, Donald Trump was a real estate con man. This is his mindset. If you want people to vote for you, you either have to scare the hell out of them, caravans and trans athletes and communists, oh my, or offer them money. Or preferably both.
SPEAKER_06And it actually works the other way around as well. At this point, almost no one doubts that some number of wealthy individuals and foreign governments have compromised on Trump. He does their bidding out of fear. Or, or if you lack compromet and you want a favor from Trump, a pardon, or a business deal, or a tariff carve out or something, just bribe him. Just fucking bribe him. It's all done out in the open now. No doubt there's a rate sheet out there somewhere with favors on one side and prices on the other.
SPEAKER_05And there's a booming secondary market in fixers who arrange such things. This is from the New Yorker, April 27th, 2026. Donald Trump's Pardon Economy. For some wealthy offenders, clemency is just a golf game or a million-dollar plate at Mar-a-Lago away. Unquote. And from 60 Minutes, three weeks ago.
SPEAKER_01Presidents have been pardoning criminals since George Washington. It's a constitutional power, no explanation needed. The Department of Justice does screen applicants and typically only recommends those who remorsefully seek mercy. But that's not always been the process. President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. President Clinton, Mark Rich after donations. President Biden, his son Hunter, and Anthony Fauci. President Trump? He's developed his own vetting system, pardoning political allies, including all of the January 6th rioters, as well as a string of unrepentant financial con men who argued, just like him, that they were wrongly prosecuted. How do these people get their grievances in the president's ear? Donations appear to help, and those who can pay hire pardon brokers, lawyers and lobbyists who sell their ties to the president for exorbitant fees.
SPEAKER_06These are the only levers Trump understands. But now real-world calamities with Trump at the center of them, like skyrocketing diesel prices and the Iran war and inflation and the Epstein files, they're all outrunning the usual bullshit imaginary fear-mongering crises that usually work to get the MAGA morons to the polls. So Trump has to double down on the bribery.
SPEAKER_05From The Guardian, September 10th, 2026. Quote, hello from the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, where on Wednesday night Trump definitely, definitely did not try to bribe the American public into voting for his party in November. Speaking for almost two hours at the American Airlines Center, Trump promised to pay every adult citizen in the U.S. $5,000 if Republicans retain the House and Senate in the midterm elections. The speech felt very much like a desperate last pitch to voters. The electoral equivalent of a dumped boyfriend offering to take his estranged girlfriend on a mini break to Venice. The $5,000 non-bribe inducement, perhaps, was the headline of Trump's speech, during which the president was the liveliest he's appeared in months. They don't talk anywhere about what he was dosed with at that evening.
SPEAKER_06What his go-go juice looks like.
SPEAKER_05To the delight initially of the crowd, I say initially because this was evidence that you can have too much of a good thing. Even your favorite entertainer can go on too long. That was the case here as an arena that wasn't even full to begin with began to quietly empty after an hour and a half as Trump, becoming visibly drained by this point, leaned on his lectern and called Democrats communist for the 11th time. Unquote.
SPEAKER_06So that's five grand in your pocket at some undetermined future date, and all you's gotta do is vote the way the dear leader says. How hard can that be, right? But if five large won't get you there, how about we stack up five Benji's on top of that? From money wise, today, October 6, 2026, quote, most Obamacare $500 rebate checks are going to states that are midterm political battlegrounds. The Trump administration has given one-time $500 refund payments to just under 1 million Americans, it says, who were overcharged excess Obamacare fees under the Biden administration. The payments did not go out nationwide, as Reuters found most of the qualifying states are midterm political battlegrounds. According to Reuters, about 71% of the payments were sent to just 13 states. That includes eight of the nine U.S. Senate races that are regarded as the most competitive, as well as 10 of the 12 most competitive governors' races. Illinois is not getting squat, by the way. The White House did not respond to Moneywise's request for comment regarding accusations that they are trying to influence the election, unquote.
SPEAKER_05As I said, uh to you, Driftglass, one of my colleagues, former colleagues at Crooks and Liars lives in Ohio. Got a check. Crooks and Liars person got a check.
SPEAKER_06Because he lives in Ohio, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Right. And uh I am encouraging Ohioans in particular, if you get your Obamacare check, uh cash it and mail the money to Jared Brown for Senate.
SPEAKER_06And film it on TikTok, endorse it over to that campaign and show your smiling face on TikTok.
SPEAKER_05All right, but if five and a half bands is still not enough, how's about we put another ninety on top of that?
SPEAKER_06$90 in your pocket.
SPEAKER_05Now, Drift Glass, can $90 fill the tank of the trustee minivan?
SPEAKER_06Uh no. Oh my god. Almost. Almost.
SPEAKER_05I mean today, like this week.
SPEAKER_06Uh if if I didn't have the big high V loyalty program discount, yeah, then the answer would have been no.
SPEAKER_05Oh wow. Yeah. We had a big discount because we got our flu shots at Hive and they gave you 20 cents off a gallon for each shot.
SPEAKER_06For each of us.
SPEAKER_05For each of us. So we had 40 cents off, plus your grocery shopping gave you more discounts.
SPEAKER_06I do strategic shopping there.
SPEAKER_05Strategic in order to get the gas discount.
SPEAKER_06That's right.
SPEAKER_05So what gas was how much, and what did you pay this week?
SPEAKER_06Uh gas was, I don't remember the price, but uh it was about 70 bucks to fill up the tank. And that was with a buck fifty or sixty knocked off every gallon.
SPEAKER_05Knocked off from your card.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_05That's and so and so add that back onto it, and it is over 90 bucks.
SPEAKER_06I would like to point out that there was no math mentioned at the beginning of this podcast.
SPEAKER_05No, but but honestly.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, it's a tanky guy.
SPEAKER_05He's giving $90 payments and what's that gonna buy people? Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Their vote, hopefully. Their vote.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, their vote. Yeah. Uh this is from the Washington Post, October 3, 2026. Quote, Trump announced his plan to send $90 payments to millions of seniors. The White House said the one-time payments would be drawn from a fund set up to improve Medicare. President Donald Trump announced plans to send $90 payments to more than 20 million older Americans, with Trump tying the initiative to his broader push to lower health care costs. The money would be drawn from about $2 billion set aside to improve Medicare's hospital and medical insurance programs, which has not been used for that purpose since the initiative's inception in 2008. Administration officials said Saturday, both parties have used the money held in the Medicare Improvement Fund in congressional budget maneuvers. Under our leadership, we're finally going to use the Medicare Improvement Fund to do what it was designed and intended to do. Help America seniors, Trump said in a video released by the White House on Saturday. Trump's move caught congressional offices in both parties by surprise, according to three aides, and threatens to complicate negotiations over end of session legislation. That money was supposed to be used to offset health extenders this year, said a GOP congressional aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail private funding talks. Lawmakers anticipated dipping into the fund to help several programs, said the aides, including the Community Health Center Fund, the National Health Service Corps, the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program, and several special diabetes programs. The frustrations over Trump's abrupt announcement could prompt lawmakers to delay some of the president's nominations in response, the aides said. The White House and the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Medicare Improvement Fund, did not respond to questions about the administration's legal authority to issue the payments, unquote.
SPEAKER_06I'm sure once Benny Ray Harmony gets on the job, she'll be answering all these questions. Answering all these questions. So that's five grand in your pocket plus five hundred in your pocket plus ninety on top of that. So you think you need more greedy little pigs? You think you need more? Fine. Fine. But you gotta understand that the deer leader can't make this last sweetener for a specific amount. Instead, you'll be getting your cheese after the Congress, under the ever victorious guidance of the deer leader, passes the greatest health care package in history any day now, probably two weeks from now, probably just like two weeks. It will be a historical miracle of unprecedented magnitude, which will save a billion jillion dollars, which the magnanimous deer leader will give away to the American people so they can not only buy their own vastly superior health care, but also have so much money left over they will laugh. Ha ha ha ha, laugh in the face of inflation.
SPEAKER_03We will pass a truly great health care plan that will stop all payments to big insurance companies, which absolutely own the Democrats, and we will give the money directly to you, the people. We give them billions and billions of dollars directly to you, so you can buy your own health insurance and have money left over. It'll be better health care.
SPEAKER_06You know, just like Bain, the Batman villain.
SPEAKER_03And we give it back to you, the people.
SPEAKER_06Let's round up some news, baby.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Uh and and uh and I'm a little bit I'm I'm not gonna say concerned. That's not that's not the word, but I I did note, I watched a little bit of Hal Sparks, and Hal uh pointed out one of Trump's performances, uh, pointing to Russell Vaught and saying, We've got a big surprise coming, don't we, Russ?
SPEAKER_06Yes, we do, because he you know he always steps on the punchline.
SPEAKER_05It's his bucket of money to distribute to make things happen. That's that's how con man does it.
SPEAKER_06The entire federal government is just his big pile of money to throw wherever he wants and steal from whoever he wants and blow up whatever he wants. And that and you know what? For 30 something percent of this country, that's fucking great.
SPEAKER_05They love every minute, they think that's fine, they just want their slice.
SPEAKER_06That's all.
SPEAKER_05All right, let's do a news roundup. This is from CBS News Channel 12. Quote, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito considered retiring this year, but decided to stay so he could make a valuable contribution. Unquote. He floated that story to sell his goddamn book.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, everybody's got a book to see it.
SPEAKER_05Everybody knows it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Uh, this is from ABC News, quote, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from building a border wall and related infrastructure through Big Bend at National Park in Texas. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone ruled that the challenges were likely to succeed on at least one claim and would face serious irreparable harm, unquote.
SPEAKER_05From CBS News Barry Weiss division, but still, quote, Trump posted Senator Tom Cotton's personal cell phone number online and urged Arkansas to call him. The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July to end twice-yearly clock changes for most of the country, but the Senate hasn't taken up the measure. Trump blamed Cotton for blocking the bill, saying almost everybody wants the Sunshine Protection Act to pass, except for Tom Cotton, unquote. Poor Tom's never gonna be president, you know that.
SPEAKER_06But he's gonna be getting a lot of phone calls.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Uh, this is from Forbes. U.S. passport redesign features non-negotiable image of Donald Trump, unquote. So you can't opt out anymore. It's gonna be the deer leader's face on your passport, whether you like it or not.
SPEAKER_05Um I'm serious. We go back. The next Democratic president has to put Obama's face in there. Of course, MAGA people don't have passports, so I don't know what I'm talking about. All right. Uh, from Politico. Politico?
SPEAKER_06Politico.
SPEAKER_05Quote, the political bill for Republicans' healthcare agenda is coming due earlier than they'd hoped. Republican signature legislation from Trump 2.0 2025's one big beautiful bill act ensured that its tax cuts were immediate. While it's controversial, there's that word again, Driftglass. Oh, yeah. Controversial cuts to Medicaid and other healthcare programs wouldn't take effect until after the midterm elections.
SPEAKER_06Were they also were they also polarizing?
SPEAKER_05Because I don't know. They might have been polarizing, but they certainly were controversial.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_05Controversial just means awful. Yeah. And you won't say that.
SPEAKER_06No.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_05Democrats worried last year that this delayed implementation would defang their attacks on the campaign trail, leaving voters unmoved by the message that a healthcare apocalypse was just around the corner. But for many, it has already arrived. Millions of people have lost their Obamacare insurance following Republicans' decision to allow COVID-era subsidies to expire last year. And the premiums for many of those who remained have skyrocketed. Millions more have lost Medicaid coverage, a trend fueled by post-pandemic eligibility checks. And a $50 billion rural health fund Republicans tucked into the Megabill last minute to help ensure its passage has not stopped the drumbeat of hospitals cutting services or closing up shop. In the final stretch of the midterms campaign, Democratic candidates in close races say the high cost of health care has become one of Republicans' biggest liabilities.
SPEAKER_06Unquote. And it's like they just go looking for rakes to step on.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Well, didn't they think about this when they stopped? No, because we have to stop Obamacare.
SPEAKER_06Right, Obamacare.
SPEAKER_05We just have to.
SPEAKER_06For cultural racist reasons, we have to undo everything Barack Obama did. Fast, fast, fast, because the dear leader demands it. One last item from the Los Angeles Times quote, Trump suggests letting Iran take out Los Angeles and San Diego at campaign rally. President Trump speaking at a campaign rally Monday suggested Iran could take out Los Angeles and San Diego, a comment that was possibly in jest. I don't think so, but brought a quick reaction from leaders in California. Trump said he wanted to see a tremendous victory in the November election because it verifies all the things we did. And again, remember, with the war, it's just artificial. It's a little bit high. Whatever. It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe, he continued. They can take out a city, let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay. Unquote.
SPEAKER_05You'd think the U.S. Navy would have something to say about San Diego.
SPEAKER_06No, because they got rid of all the beardos and weirdos.
SPEAKER_05Oh, the beardos and weirdos.
SPEAKER_06So they're all jacked up on testosterone now and listening to tape loops of Pete Heggseth tell them what big studs they are.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. You know, I I I know we've said this before in this podcast, but a a paid destroyer, a paid agent of a foreign government with unlimited power over this country could not do more damage to our country than Republicans have done by going to the polls and voting for this asshole twice, three times.
SPEAKER_05Yep, you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. Yeah. It's it's and and this as many people on Blue Sky said today, it's not just that this crazy man said destroy two major cities in California. He meant he meant it as hate for California. Right. Exactly. The audience cheered. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Well, those people.
SPEAKER_05And they are they are as as much the monsters as their dear leader.
SPEAKER_06They sure are.
SPEAKER_05And they have been for a long time.
SPEAKER_06For a long, long, long time.
SPEAKER_05Well, feel free to write to both of us at proleftpodcast at gmail.com. We do love hearing from you. Be aware that if you write to us at any of our addresses, we reserve the right to read your email or U.S. Postal Service, GoPostal Unions letter on the air, unless you say otherwise. And thank you so much for supporting our show at patreon.com forward slash prolef pod. There's a number of other ways to support our show at prolef pod.com.
SPEAKER_06And please also share our show on social media. If you have Jennifer Todd at your side right now, share this with her and let her know that we're inviting her on this podcast to get her message out. So if you love this podcast, please get someone else to listen to it too.
SPEAKER_05Hey Driftglass, how are the Internet Kitties doing this week?
SPEAKER_06Well, Bluegill, the Internet Kitties say, let them take out Mar-a-Lago, let them take out the Bedminster Golf Club. This is a very small price to pay.