Elon Musk is tired, Kevin McCarthy is fired, and Punch Weekly is wired! | 🥊 #000.1
Punchline: House Republicans fired their own Speaker in the most daring attempt to own the libs yet. Kevin McCarthy, meanwhile, announced he will be spending more time with his money.
Welcome to the very first Punch newsletter! Well, the first pre-launch Punch newsletter. I'm working night and day to make sure all-systems-are-go prior to the official January 1, 2024 launch of Sometimes Weekly. This will give me some time to get my sea legs and find a rhythm for writing a weekly newsletter before I'm officially self-obligated to do so.
I appreciate your readership and if you have any questions, comments, or correspondence, please send a note to me at nick@sometimesweekly.com.
Weekly Jabs
Bye-bye. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his speakership after—and you wont believe this—ending up inside the tiger.1
Donald Trump's civil trial in New York continues as his empire unravels. The judge has already issued a summary judgement and Trump's behavior has become increasingly erratic, if that's even possible at this point.2
Haymaker: Donald Trump echoed rhetoric used by Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf, saying immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country." Dear reader, is this normal?
Elon Musk removed headlines from links shared on Twitter in his continued effort to destroy the platform and/or to trap you inside of it.3 This after NBC News's Ben Collins reported that Musk's steps since buying Twitter have been influenced by a prominent white nationalist.
President Joe Biden continues to warn us about threats to democracy.
From the Trail: I attended RFK Jr.’s “historic announcement” yesterday in Philadelphia and will be sharing my complete thoughts on that event in the near future. For now, please enjoy this brief preview video and be sure to subscribe to Sometimes Weekly on YouTube for more in the future!
The Main Event
Kevin McCarthy, Useful Idiot
Last week, after losing his coveted speakership, Kevin McCarthy gave an all encompassing press conference where he lit into Democrats for the politicization of January 6, when a lynch mob of Republican voters descended on the U.S. Capitol to halt the peaceful transfer of power after being incited to violence by then-president Donald Trump. That's right, the Democrats investigation into that event is polarizing—the people who erected gallows on the National Mall were not polarizing, no sir! That, you see, was normal political discourse.
"Kevin McCarthy should know better and does know better, and therefor is far more guilty for sticking a knife in our democracy." — Stephen Colbert, November 2021
What's bizarre to me is that, in his press conference, McCarthy gave a long-winded recount of 1930s Germany drawing comparisons between Putin and Hitler. It was impressive to watch the level of detail McCarthy could recite regarding the events that plunged the world into war. But, unsurprisingly, it lacked any level of self-awareness regarding his own participation in a wannabe dictator's attempt to destroy democracy.
Still, it showed he had some understanding of history. And that’s something, I suppose.
It has since been reported that the Biden White House saw McCarthy as a relatively reasonable negotiator, but despite his reasonable behavior behind the scenes, he was abandon that sobriety and turned to attacks in the press. Some attacks were traditional, kid-glove political attacks. Other attacks, however, plunged closer to the conspiracies we’re used to from Republican elected officials these days.
"I don't know that there's anybody more responsible for rehabilitating Donald Trump and the danger that he presents than Kevin McCarthy...The month of January wasn't even out and Kevin went to Mar-a-Lago basically to rehabilitate Donald Trump" — Liz Cheney, June 2023
Either way, McCarthy’s difficult balancing act did not last. He became the first U.S. Speaker of the House to be voted off the island. He was ultimately consumed by the extremists he enabled. He secured his place in history as a useful idiot. Who, I wonder, could have seen this coming?
The question now is, of course, who will replace Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House, with some Republicans boldly suggesting the very best replacement might be a young up-and-comer named… Kevin McCarthy.
God Speed & Talk Soon,4
Nick
Teaser Trailer
“Those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.” ― John F. Kennedy
It's not possible for Trump to become increasingly erratic. The erratic ship has sailed. Anyone framing Trump as increasingly erratic, or similar, better have been in a coma since 2015.
Troy, D. (2022, November 7). Musk’s Twitter Buy Makes No Sense – Unless It’s Part of Something Bigger. Byline Times. https://bylinetimes.com/2022/11/07/musks-twitter-buy-makes-no-sense-unless-its-part-of-something-bigger/
The structure of this newsletter will likely be modified moving forward as I continue to consider the best format and approach.
The working class who fight all the battles, the working class who make the supreme sacrifices, the working class who freely shed their blood and furnish the corpses, have never yet had a voice in either declaring war or making peace.
It is the ruling class that invariably does both. They alone declare war and they alone make peace.
Yours not to reason why;
Yours but to do and die.
That is their motto and we object on the part of the awakening workers of this nation.
Eugene V. Debs