Vibes Only
The polls are broken, the stakes are unprecedented, and vibes drive the future of American politics.
Every Thursday, political strategist Brian Derrick (founder of Oath) and new media strategist Glennis Meagher (co-founder of Generator Collective) break down the biggest stories in American politics, elections, and culture.
This isn't your standard cable news commentary. Get an insider's look at the US political machine, current news of the week, and the digital strategy shaping our world - delivered with the honesty, insight, and humor of two people who've actually worked in the trenches of US politics.
Hit follow and stay ahead of the news cycle every Thursday.
Vibes Only
Ed Markey Wins and a USPS Whistleblower Complaint
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Your ballot is not cancelled. Sen. Richard Blumenthal released a 20-page complaint describing a rushed September 1 launch, a federal court order standing in the way, and one move that takes you off the list entirely: vote early.
An anonymous federal official, represented by Whistleblower Aid, told Congress the Postal Service built its mail ballot verification system in weeks rather than the nine months to a year a project like this normally takes, with internal staff reportedly describing the process in language we cannot print here. Brian Derrick walks through what the system would actually do, why one bad barcode could reject an entire batch, and why the courts have already frozen it. Glennis Meagher makes the case that the panic is fair and the fix is boring: make a voting plan, vote early, and get your name off the turnout lists so campaigns can spend their time on someone who needs the reminder.
Then the machinery. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned after months of friction with Pete Hegseth, six months into the Iran war, leaving the Army without Senate-confirmed leadership in uniform or out of it. The White House confirmed the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital will take a 35 percent stake in North American Blue Energy Partners, the Venezuelan firm owned by Alejandro Betancourt, in a deal signed by Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth that Sen. Jack Reed called a blatant abuse of power and taxpayer dollars. New CDC Director Erica Schwartz pulled two Pennsylvania measles deaths out of the federal tally, the first measles deaths in that state in 35 years. And Speaker Mike Johnson (good Christian man, he is - lol jk) told CNN's Manu Raju he still supports Max Miller's re-election and we have the receipts.
Ed Markey held off Seth Moulton, which sets up Brian and Glennis on the actual argument underneath the age fight: what a 51-seat Senate majority means when any single absence gives it away. Your Oath Candidate of the Week is Matt Dunlap, running against Paul LePage for Jared Golden's open seat in Maine's 2nd.
Also for Clickbait or Double-Click we cover Kalshi suspending Laurie Buckhout for betting on her own race (and George Santos being back in the news whyyy), the RNC scheduling its first-ever midterm convention against the NFL opener, and the NTSB tracing a Marine One close call back to White House ballroom construction. Your Good Vibe Goodbye is Olivia Rodrigo's Daisy Chain Fields, which raised 20 million dollars for ten women's and girls' organizations after Melinda French Gates matched the total.
CORRECTION: We describe the recalled Argentine beef as 300,000 tons of spoiled beef. The August recall was issued because roughly 30,000 pounds entered US commerce without required federal re-inspection, not because spoilage was confirmed.
UPDATE: This episode was recorded the morning of Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Later that evening the House voted 413 to 2 to formally censure Chuck Edwards. Edwards denies the allegations and is not seeking re-election.
New episodes of Vibes Only are available for download first thing every Thursday morning! Hit that FOLLOW and we'll keep you informed for the midterms.
EPISODE RESOURCES/LINKS
Oath Candidate of the Week: Matt Dunlap
Clickbait or Double-Click 1: Kalshi Suspends Republican House Candidate for Betting on Her Own Race - The New York Times
Clickbait or Double-Click 2: Influencers Have a Lot to Say About Politics. Many Are Quietly Paid for It. - The New York Times
Clickbait or Double-Click 3: GOP convention will battle NFL openers for attention - AXIOS
Clickbait or Double-Click 4: White House Construction May Have Contributed to Close Call With Trump’s Helicopter - The New York Times
Good Vibe Goodbye: Olivia Rodrigo Raises $20 Million With Daisy Chain Fields Festival Thanks to Matching Commitment From Melinda French Gates - Variety
I'm Glennis Meagher.
BRIAN:And I'm Brian Derrick.
GLENNIS:Welcome back to Vibes Only. This
BRIAN:week- This week- You go. Sorry. You go. You go, you go.
GLENNIS:This week we get into our deep hatred for Pete Hegseth and the rumors about his run for president in '28. Yikes.
BRIAN:We're gonna get into why younger voters are rallying for an older candidate, Ed Markey.
GLENNIS:Plus, the House is back in session this week, and we discuss why they literally won't be doing anything.
BRIAN:And where's the beef? Why Trump is pissing off farmers with tons of new spoiled beef from Argentina.
GLENNIS:Gross. Let's get into it. Let's get into it. Hello, Brian.
BRIAN:Hola.
GLENNIS:Yeah. I would say good morning, but we are both in the afternoon. We are recording abroad. Vibes Only is global, baby.
BRIAN:I know. Is this now, like, a foreign commentary on American politics at this point?
GLENNIS:No. Although there is an election happening in Sweden in 12 days, so it's been interesting here to see how they do advertisements. It's not like America, I'll say that much.
BRIAN:Is it all corporations spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get their way and take over the political system to bend it at their will?
GLENNIS:Shockingly, no. It's road signs, and then, like, the public television station doing three-hour interviews with each of the candidates.
BRIAN:Well, I'm in Spain- Yeah… for a wedding, and then back for the post-Labor Day election bonanza. Shall we get into it?
GLENNIS:Let's do it.
BRIAN:Well, this week we have to start with the most breaking news that is also the thing that I think people have the most questions about, and honestly, so do we, which is a new whistleblower complaint about USPS. Have you seen this?
GLENNIS:I did. It was submitted through the Whistleblower Act or whatever. I get-
BRIAN:There's an app for that.
GLENNIS:No, no, no. Not the app, the act. A-C-T. Well, basically, if you wanna be a whistleblower, you can just report and you're protected. Someone at USPS is saying it's started. They are already trying to undermine US elections, and they are going forward with the court-blocked Trump crazy rules.
BRIAN:We don't know a ton yet as of time of recording. This is basically coming out real time at the moment. But we have an initial whistleblower complaint that says even though there has been a, at least one continuous court ruling blocking implementation of Trump's mail-in ballot rules, that they're going ahead in trying to implement it anyway for- Yeah a September 1, cough, cough, that's literally right now, date for, for launch. And so what this would do, as a reminder, is set up a list that USPS maintains that every state would have to run their own Vote by mail recipients against, and if you're not on the list, then you don't get a ballot. It is his attempt to federalize elections, his attempt to maintain a list of who's allowed to vote and who is not, which as we've talked about, is not something that we would wanna trust any federal government with- Yeah especially not the Trump administration. We're finding out in real time how far along that enactment of the plan- Hmm … is, but any sort of implementation of it is absolutely banned by federal courts and-
GLENNIS:Right… BRIAN: the Supreme Court effectively rule against the injunctions. Right. We talked about that last week. Their ruling was like a non-ruling. They kicked the can down the road.
BRIAN:Right.
GLENNIS:I was looking up this stat 'cause it's like Republicans vote by mail, too, and 25% of all Republicans vote by mail. So I-
BRIAN:Yeah. I mean, there's a bunch of states where the vast majority of people vote by mail. I think it's 40% or something like that in Michigan. So fucking up vote by mail as a whole is just not an option, and the courts know that. That's why the courts are jumping in when they are asked to squash this, to say, "No. In September, less than eight weeks before election day, you're not gonna implement some crazy new rule that's obviously unconstitutional." Yeah. Like, we're, we're not doing that. And so it's still probably gonna make its way to the Supreme Court, but if they're not listening to the court rulings, then we have a separate problem around actual enforcement.
GLENNIS:And there's just like the logistical issue of if you physically can't go to vote in person or you're expecting your mail-in ballot to be delivered and it's not, there's going to be a delta of people who just don't go forward with voting because they can't do it easily. It's disturbing to read and, you know, not to be a capitalist about it, but did you know that the US Postal Service is not funded by taxpayers at all? Its entire operation runs off the revenue that we pay USPS. That's why they have huge budget deficits 'cause it never really works and you don't wanna put your money there. It just makes me sick to my stomach that like- This organization that only exists because we use it is turning against the American people and our right to vote.
BRIAN:Yeah. USPS honestly has all kinds of weird funky rules. They also have to pre-fund the pensions for their employees, which no other federal agency needs to do. It is run in a very weird way. But it's a necessity. It's a public utility. We all know that we need- That's true, yeah … the mail. USPS is popular. People like the idea that you can send mail anywhere. They're the only service that guarantees that sort of accessibility, especially to more rural places. So undermining trust in USPS is also a bad thing for the same people that Trump would consider his crowd.
GLENNIS:If you're listening and you are physically able to go vote, I'm on everyone to vote early. Make a voting plan. Like, make the plan. Like, put it in your calendar and say, "Today is the day I'm gonna go vote."
BRIAN:Voting early is a good idea no matter what, and the reason that it is a great idea is because pretty much no matter where you live, there are campaigns that are keeping tabs on you. If you listen to Vibes Only, let me tell you, you're a high propensity voter. I don't think that this is, like, the crowd of people who turn out- Mm-hmm … once every four presidential elections. And so you're a high propensity voter, and they're waiting for you to vote. Someone's tracking you on a list, and they're gonna call you and text you and knock on your door, et cetera, et cetera, depending on how organized they are and where you live. But certainly you're being tracked so that they can get you to vote. And so the sooner you get your name off of that list, the more they can focus on other people that actually might need the reminders, that might need the help to go vote.
GLENNIS:Okay. Yeah. So if you wanna stop getting those texts about your voting plan, just go do it, and then you're crossed off the list.
BRIAN:Yeah. We will continue keeping tabs on this story and probably have a deeper dive next week as far as what is alleged by the whistleblower and what Democrats are able to dig up on what the fuck is going on over there. Because as I said immediately when I saw it, House Democrats need to jump on this. They have the most leverage in the situation because they are about to have subpoena power in the House when we flip the House majority. They are the arm of the Democratic Party that Republicans and Trump specifically are the most afraid of right now.
GLENNIS:Speaking of, they're back in session, but do we care? Nothing's gonna happen. Like, I know air quotes. Session.
BRIAN:Session.
GLENNIS:Yeah. We- They're back from recess, which is, as we talked about before on the pod, when they're supposed to be running town halls with their constituents and hearing from them, et cetera. They're back. But you brought this up a couple weeks ago. They've already decided they're not gonna do much until after the election, right?
BRIAN:Yeah. G, how many days do you think you've worked since June 1st?
GLENNIS:Every day I can't do the math. Every day. I've worked every single day since June 1st.
BRIAN:Okay, so 90 days. Guess how many days the House has been in session to vote? 19 days.
GLENNIS:19 days.
BRIAN:They've had nine- they've had 19 voting days. Everyone believes that the House is gonna flip, so this is Republicans' literal last chance to legislate with just their majority, and they literally can't because they have no agenda,'cause they have no solutions. All they can do is refurbish monuments and bulldoze things and talk shit about YouTube creators. Like, they, they have no actual agenda other than cutting taxes for the rich. They do a once-a-year reconciliation bill that can cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy, and then they're kinda out of ideas after that. That's literally what's happening this week.
GLENNIS:Did you see that clip of Mike Johnson when he was asked about Max Miller? Lest we forget- Mm … the deeply Christian, super conservative, family values man, when he was asked about Max Miller-- Let me play this for you. Do
MANU RAJU:you support Max Miller's re-election?
MIKE JOHNSON:Uh, I have supported Max Miller's re-election.
MANU RAJU:You still do?
MIKE JOHNSON:Yes, and he, uh, has been a, a great member of Congress. He has some issues in his personal life he's working through. The House Ethics Committee is looking into that and any implications it may have. And as usual, you know, you've heard me say this a thousand times, get a due process layup.
BRIAN:You can literally hear him running away.
GLENNIS:That's what, that's what Republican leaders have been doing. They've been defending abusers, violent men. Again, this, this man says he's a Christian.
BRIAN:Right.
GLENNIS:Roll the tape. She's not
BRIAN:a Christian.
WIFE SWAP WARRIOR:She's not a Christian.
BRIAN:Ah! So- Okay … the only thing that they're gonna be able to get done this week is a continuing resolution. As a reminder, that is a bill that continues the budget at the levels of the previous year. That's what they do to avoid a government shutdown when they cannot agree on new numbers. A continuing resolution to extend government funding from September, the current deadline, through December, because no one really would benefit from a government shutdown pre-election. They might censure Chuck Edwards, another one of the men, as you're pointing out, that has been accused of wrongdoing and has been forced to end his re-election campaign as a result of that. He's the one who bought like- Yes… a pink gun for a female staffer and was writing really creepy, long letters to- Love letters. Love
GLENNIS:letters … love
BRIAN:letters to his staffers.
GLENNIS:Yeah.
BRIAN:And then it seems likely at this point that they're just gonna be like, "Okay, we're done," and then go home for the rest of the time before the election, which they're supposed to be in session for three more weeks.
GLENNIS:Lazy, lazy, lazy, and we are paying for their salaries, so it's crazy. I, I hate them. Sorry, I do
BRIAN:The government is falling apart. It's so crazy to see all of the agencies that have been set up over the last 100 years that are created to deploy our tax dollars to services that we all need and use, and to defending us against corporations and the wealthy and all these things. And there are so many examples of it this week. So just to name a couple, at the CDC, we have the head of the CDC trying to claim that measles deaths in Pennsylvania were not caused by measles to, like, deflect from their anti-vax issues. At the Department of Defense, you have Driscoll, who's one of the most senior leaders in the armed forces, resigning in the middle of a war because he thinks that Pete Hegseth is a shit show and so incompetent that he cannot coexist with Hegseth, who continues to, like, intervene to block promotions and to fire people at very senior levels without explanation, mostly because they're women or Black or something like that, and he's trying to appease- Hmm a far-right identity-obsessed electorate. At the Department of Education, which doesn't really exist, they're there trying to dismantle Title IX and all the legislation that is there to protect women in sports and, and access for, for women in education generally. So where do you wanna begin? Is it the attacks on health? Is it the military? Is it education? Is it somewhere else?
GLENNIS:There's also one more that I read. The Pentagon is making a deal with Venezuela On oil. But it's deeply unserious. It's, it's just like, "Oh, now I, now I get it." In case you were wondering why we abducted Maduro, it wasn't because of his human rights violations. It was, in fact, because of the oil. The oil industry has netted$125 billion in profit since the war started.
BRIAN:I would just say, coming from the airport in Madrid, I had an Uber driver that was from Venezuela, and I- Oh … told him that I was American. He asked. And immediately, the whole conversation became about politics. He was like, "We had such high hopes for Trump. We were so excited to see our country liberated, and it turns out it was all just for oil." Like, he, he still has family in Caracas, so I was like,"Yeah, I'm so sorry." Like, he's the worst human that we could ever choose to represent us, so I'm sorry.
GLENNIS:Yeah. To just, like, put the cherry on the corruption cake with this one, the White House confirmed on Monday that the Pentagon took a 35% equity stake in a joint venture with Alejandro Betancourt, a Venezuelan billionaire investigated in three countries. Rubio and Hegseth signed. Senator Jack Reed called it a blatant abuse of power. House oversight still can't account for $13 billion in Venezuelan oil revenue. And by the way- It- … guess what? Your gas is still at a record high.
BRIAN:The idea that someone in our government literally just walked away with 13 bill, that they just hooked up Trump's checking account to Venezuela real time and just pumped the money out of the country is so insane.
GLENNIS:It's so corrupt. Like, yeah, and let's, like, just put a finer point on that.$13 billion is missing. It's unaccounted for
BRIAN:Because he never answered questions. Before it started, he would never answer questions about what the money would go towards. He was like, "Yeah, we're gonna sell all of Venezuela's oil, and we're taking the money." And everyone was like, "Who's taking the money?" And he was like, "Next question."
GLENNIS:It makes me sick to my stomach. Someone asked me, like, it was like gun to head, "Who, who do you hate the most in the Trump administration?" And I said, "Hegseth." He's my number one right now. I hate him. What a fool. What an idiot running our Defense Department. Let's talk about him and the fact that one of the highest civilian positions in his department, they just resigned in protest resignation, essentially.
BRIAN:Yeah, so it's the Army Secretary is his title. His name's Dan Driscoll. Yeah, this is a result of months of issues between Hegseth and essentially the rest of the leaders of the military. As we've said from the very beginning, he's completely unqualified to be there. He was the one that I thought was the most likely to be blocked, and he's the one that has proven us all to be the most correct. And on top of it all- Mm-hmm … do you know what I have read recently from the rumor mill?
GLENNIS:Ooh, what?
BRIAN:He's lining up a 2028 run.
GLENNIS:Hegseth?
BRIAN:Yes.
GLENNIS:Good luck, buddy. Good luck.
BRIAN:He's, he's gonna try to run against Rubio and Vance, Hawley and Cruz.
GLENNIS:Donald Trump does not like JD Vance, and it's so obvious, and that's gonna hurt Vance. He's deeply unserious. The Pope doesn't even like JD Vance. Like, to be a Catholic in the world and have the Pope be your op, it's a big problem. Ew, ew, ew. And the thing is, like, honestly, if Hegseth runs, Hunter Biden should run, and they should debate, and Hunter will, like, ruin his life.
BRIAN:Hunter Biden, who's 48.6% gay.
GLENNIS:Oh, I saw that.
BRIAN:That was bizarre.
GLENNIS:Whatever.
BRIAN:It was, it was a weird way to drop that, but live your life, bro. Oh,
GLENNIS:you believed him?
BRIAN:I don't know. What do you, what do you make of that comment?
GLENNIS:Roll the clip
LUKE BEASLEY:Are you gay?
HUNTER BIDEN:Um, I only, um, uh, only a little bit. I think everybody's a little bit gay.
LUKE BEASLEY:More or less than 50%?
HUNTER BIDEN:What?
LUKE BEASLEY:More or less than 50%?
HUNTER BIDEN:Uh, uh, 48.6.
LUKE BEASLEY:Did I hear you're a painter?
HUNTER BIDEN:I am, yes.
LUKE BEASLEY:Gay, yeah.
HUNTER BIDEN:Yeah. Did you say gay?
LUKE BEASLEY:What?
HUNTER BIDEN:What?
LUKE BEASLEY:What'd you say?
GLENNIS:Hunter's on a very large digital media podcast tour. Honestly, uh, yeah, Hun- Hunter probably is.
BRIAN:Why would he say he's 48.6% gay if he doesn't identify as a little gay? Just a joke?
GLENNIS:It's called queerbaiting, Brian. It's an infamous- I
BRIAN:mean, there's no, there there's no benefit to Hunter Biden queerbaiting. He's not, like, an artist that's looking for a fan base. Like, why, why would, why would that help him? He's not Harry Styles, like-
GLENNIS:LOL… BRIAN: trying to sell out MSG for 30 nights. And it's working. I know, for 30 nights in a row. You know how I feel about Hunter. Whatever Hunter wants to do, fine by me.
BRIAN:Okay. Well, I can see him living his fruit fly fantasy, so we'll just let him have the summer that he deserves.
GLENNIS:Um- Fruit fly fantasy?
BRIAN:It's a novel that all the gays are obsessed with right now.
GLENNIS:Oh. Where's Mitch McConnell?
BRIAN:Whenever the topic change, where's Mitch McConnell? I- Where is Mitch McConnell? We still don't know. It's been s- like 80 days or so. He's still MIA, and he's not the only old guy who's at risk of dying in his seat. Today is the Senator Markey versus Congressman Moulton matchup in Massachusetts. What are your thoughts?
GLENNIS:I was about to say, watch what you say here. Ed Markey is 80 years old. I acknowledge that. He is the more progressive candidate. I support Ed Markey, and that's controversial because he's very old. Like, hmm-
BRIAN:He has a 99% chance on the prediction markets, so I wouldn't say it's that controversial.
GLENNIS:Okay, fair. But there's a large online constituency where I spend a lot of my time who was very much for Seth Moulton. I'm just not a fan of him. I'm like, "You're mod, and you're-- you have some weird trades, and I just don't like you."
BRIAN:It's like an upside-down primary 'cause typically it's an older member who's more moderate getting primaried by a younger member who's more progressive, and this is an older progressive member getting primaried by a younger, more moderate member. He's 80. It's a six-year term. He'll be 86 when he finishes. I don't make endorsements. Oath doesn't make endorsements in competitive primaries like this, but I do have to say it is a risk when our best case scenario, if you're a realist, our best, best case scenario in the Senate is a f- 51-seat majority. If not just him, but if anybody has to resign or has a long drawn out illness and misses a bunch of votes, we will effectively give away the Senate majority. I know. So it's a real consideration. I know. This is kind of what happened in 2009 into 2010. I think it was Ted Kennedy, right, was a senator from Massachusetts, died, and a Republican wins in the special election to replace him, like a surprise. So-
GLENNIS:Who? Scott Brown?
BRIAN:Scott Brown. All of that to say, I just think that as we graduate another 50, 70-plus-year-olds from Congress to Congress in the Democratic Party, like There is real risk. I looked it up because I was gonna post about this, and I knew that people were gonna go fucking nuts on me 'cause I get accused of ageism when I say this.
GLENNIS:Well, it's okay. It's, it's a good flag. Like, is there a world in which, like, he resigns and then the governor appoints another progressive? Maybe. But I, I hear you on the votes. It's-- I actually wasn't really thinking about that.
BRIAN:I just don't think that we've been shown that stepping aside gracefully is anyone's forte. Dianne Feinstein, David Scott literally just died in his seat, six Democrats in the House since 2024. That's maybe a, a nice platitude to say, but when it comes down to it, I feel like it's so rare to see someone step aside when they should. Like, Maxine Waters is running again. Isn't she 88? I think she's 88. It is not ageist to observe that the probability of serious illness or death increases with age.
GLENNIS:No, it's a, it's a valid point, and Maxine Waters is 88 years old. Whenever we talk about the Senate or elected officials, I like to, like, bring it into, like, corporate America.
ERICA SCHWARTZ:Like, if you were at a meeting with an 88-year-old, wouldn't you be like, "Come on, Grandma, this is elder abuse. Why are you still talking about P&L statements with me here?" You know? I mean, look at the Jim Clyburn interview where he was like, he just found out about ChatGPT last week.
GLENNIS:Yeah. And Markey did have something that-- They tried to make it go really viral where his response on something around AI was not That great. You know, I agree with you. You've said this a lot for the last two years. Like, we need elected officials who understand the technology that we're trying to regulate or the guardrails that we're trying to put on these new technologies. If you don't fundamentally understand it, if you don't have the user experience, how are you going to legislate around it or about it or on it?
BRIAN:So my guess is by the time people are hearing this, Markey has been- Yeah … declared the winner of the primary. But I think that it's just, like, worth noting. And hey, maybe someone should go recruit somebody else to run in Massachusetts. Although Massachusetts does not have any competitive House races, the closest we can get is Maine. And so our Oath candidate of the week is Matt Dunlap, who's running in a really tough race trying to hold onto Jared Golden's seat. Jared Golden being the highest over performer ever in the House has left really big shoes to fill, but Matt Dunlap, you can do it.
GLENNIS:We believe in you. The one other thing that we didn't touch on, I wanna talk about really quickly, I haven't read about it, tell me what you know, which is the CDC director who-- They're saying that the state of Pennsylvania, that there were two measles, confirmed measles deaths in the state, and the CDC is like, "No."
BRIAN:First of all, this is the woman who was super viral for her hearings.
GLENNIS:Erica Schwartz.
BRIAN:Erica Schwartz. Thank you so much. Jayson, maybe add in some clip here from her Senate confirmation hearings. You
ERICA SCHWARTZ:have my commitment. Abortion surveillance is absolutely a critical, uh, component of what the CDC is currently doing. To your point, it may- may be moved to another, uh, uh, agency within HHS. I, I agree. Yes, I will look into that.
JOSH HAWLEY:Thank you.
ERICA SCHWARTZ:But I also want to a- also make sure that, um, certain states are not conflating emergency services and hiding abortions in that em- emergency services, uh, com- uh, case definition.
BRIAN:So Erica Schwartz was confirmed recently. A controversial one because the CDC continues to say one thing and do another, and they'll like to claim that they're not anti-vax, but then they will rescind and delete pages from the website, like sharing studies that show there's no link between vaccines and autism, for example. Without new data, without any new study to be like, "Oh, this is why we would do this." It's all just being done in closed door meetings and- Mm … smoky rooms kind of vibe because it's all conspiratorial thinking that's driving this movement at the government level. I think that there's a very real MAHA energy among normal people and everyday voters where- Sure, yeah … people just know that our, our system is, is fucked up and that people wanna see it fixed. But- Trump land is just latching onto that to use it to- Yes … advance their own agenda, which ultimately helps companies making pesticides rather than- No … like, the, the parents who want their kids to be healthy.
GLENNIS:They're literally making it worse. The best example is RFK Jr., who was like the MAHA mommy, and everyone was obsessed with him. He was the one who created the precedent. It was him as an environmental lawyer who sued Roundup and said, "You cause cancer. You kill people." He won a landmark trial. Cut to in the Trump administration with him as the head of HHS, Trump opened the floodgates for pesticides to be used. Right. Which we know because of the landmark lawsuit that RFK Jr. spearheaded kills people.
BRIAN:And that's why we're gonna win the midterms, baby. All the people just see every single promise just broken and betrayed. There's so much viral content from Trump voters being like, "What the fuck did we sign up for?"
GLENNIS:Yeah, I'm a little pleased to see the cattle ranchers are getting involved now, and these are like Texas cattle ranchers. Jayson, I'll send it and we can play a clip of it.
JOE MATHIEU:Should we know what country the beef is coming from?
SID MILLER:Well, let me tell you, I'm glad you brought that up. It's coming from any one of- Yeah … 20 countries. They won't tell us, tell us which one. But that's lying to the American consumer. That's deceptive advertising. That just really, you know, chaps me off that, that we would do that- Hmm … to the American consumer, just flat out lie to
JOE MATHIEU:them. Is the president risking losing the American farmer?
SID MILLER:I'm real close to them. I'm, I'm right in the heartbeat of, of ranching country. You know, Texas, we have more- Yeah … cattle than any other state. A- and they're really upset about this. Uh, we, we may lose some midterm elections over this.
GLENNIS:Pissed. This beef from Argentina, I don't know if you saw that, it came through and it's spoiled, so you can't eat it. Um, like what?
BRIAN:Is, is that real? Is that real?
GLENNIS:Yes. They, they shipped like 30,000 pounds of Argentinean, like steak. They imported it. And what I learned from this Republican cattle rancher in Texas is that there is a law in the United States that you don't have to say on your beef. So anyone here who eats meat, I do not, but if you eat beef, there's no law that says that it has to say country of origin. So all beef will say- Hmm product of the USA because once it lands in America, they say, "Oh, it's an American product." But no. Oh. You could be eating Argentine beef that's gonna give you the runs or worse.
BRIAN:I mean- So- … for the record, it's 300,000 tons. Tons. 300,000-
GLENNIS:That's- … tons.
BRIAN:I mean 30,000 pounds is like what a grocery store goes through. You know what I mean? We're talking a lot. This actually feels like a classic Democratic trap that they're doing right now because Trump is l- is like, "Hey look, I'm trying to make beef cheaper. Love me for the midterms."
GLENNIS:No.
BRIAN:But in reality-
GLENNIS:He's giving $1. He's giving a dollar coupon for beef. That's what he's doing to make it cheaper
BRIAN:I mean, it's not lit- How much does beef cost? It's not, it's not literally a dollar coupon. That's what I said on the podcast. Is it? Just as like-
GLENNIS:Oh. I thought it was. I was like- I don't know. I'm not getting these beef credits. What's the beef credit from
BRIAN:Trump? No, it's, no, it's just like the equivalent of that. It's like- Oh … it's a d- it's a tiny, it's a scratch on the surface- Yeah … of what's driving prices up. It's like him doing the gas station- The
GLENNIS:New Jersey
BRIAN:stations,
GLENNIS:yeah… BRIAN: gi- gimmick. Yeah. It's a classic Democratic trap to do something that's like moderately, mildly noticed by the people that you're aiming for, and in doing that thing, infuriating the people who care about it the most. And that's what he's doing, is people who buy beef are not gonna notice any sort of price relief. And the farmers who care exclusively about the price of their livelihood of, of beef- Mm-hmm … cattle, is it's their number one thing. So they're irate, and he needs them in places like Iowa. So it's a bad move. They're just doubling down with bad politics on bad policy. Yeah. My pitch to Dems is you need to run like an entire digital campaign based on the Where's the Beef campaign from the '90s. And we tell people- Where's the beef?… ex- exactly where the beef is, where it's coming from, and how much it's costing you, and how sick it's making you.
BRIAN:What was Where's the Beef? Oh, Wendy's.
GLENNIS:Wendy's, yeah. Do you remember the Chili's baby back ribs? Did you have that, like that?
BRIAN:Baby back, baby back, baby back. That one? Yeah, yeah,
GLENNIS:yeah. Yeah. Chili's.
BRIAN:Classic. They
GLENNIS:don't make jingles like they used to.
BRIAN:They don't.
GLENNIS:Okay.
BRIAN:Okay. Clickbait double click or-
GLENNIS:Clickbait double click for those who have made it this far and haven't listened. This is where we give each other headlines from the week, and we decide if it's worth your attention or not. The first headline, "Kalshi suspends Republican House candidate for betting on her own race." Laurie- Clickbait … Buckhout. Okay. Sure, Republican House candidate in North Carolina bet on her own race, fined $2,600. Okay.
BRIAN:Did she bet against herself or-- I think this is clickbait because it gives the impression that there's some kind of self-enforcement going on when it is totally a joke, and they're trying to hold up these very, very few examples. They also just gave a lifetime ban to George Santos, when in reality it's the wild fucking West, and it's a completely unregulated bullshit industry.
GLENNIS:Also, like, how is George Santos even allowed on the platform?
BRIAN:How's he allowed out of jail is what you really mean.
GLENNIS:What a moment in American history. Okay.
BRIAN:Glennis, very up your alley."Influencers have a lot to say about politics. Many are quietly getting paid for it." New York Times exposé on influencers getting paid by campaigns but not disclosing.
GLENNIS:Clickbait. Who cares? Why don't you open the hood on Republicans and what they're doing? I feel like mainstream media spends a lot of time on Democratic spending on digital programs And it's mostly clickbait
BRIAN:Okay, I have another one. Republicans planned an unprecedented convention for the midterms, but scheduled it to conflict with the New England Patriots playing the Seattle Seahawks in a Super Bowl rematch.
GLENNIS:You're joking. No one cross-checked, like, the US cultural calendar before they scheduled a convention?
BRIAN:It's the same time as JD Vance's speech
GLENNIS:Oh, I see. Stupid clickbait, but good. Watch football, don't watch JD Vance.
BRIAN:Yeah, tea. I have another one.
GLENNIS:Oh, okay. Wow, you're really, you've got a list.
BRIAN:The National Transportation Safety Board determined that a close call between Trump's helicopter and a commercial jet may have been due to the White House ballroom construction.
GLENNIS:You know, Brian, the Lord works in mysterious ways, and I think that
BRIAN:We're just gonna leave it there. We're just gonna leave it at that. Yeah.
GLENNIS:Yeah. But did you see that they're letting the ballroom move forward?
BRIAN:I did see that.
GLENNIS:I have a good vibe goodbye for us.
BRIAN:Hit us with it.
GLENNIS:Okay. Brian, did you know that there was a new festival this weekend?
BRIAN:I did not know that.
GLENNIS:Okay. Well, this is our good vibe goodbye of the week. Olivia Rodrigo, are you aware of her?
BRIAN:Of course.
GLENNIS:She launched the first, and hopefully more, Daisy Chain Fields Festival. This was in Orange County, California this past weekend. It raised $10 million for women and girls nonprofits. 100% of net proceeds. That's really exciting. And Melinda Gates, God bless her, she matched it. That's amazing. Total raised, yeah, really amazing, $20 million. It benefited Planned Parenthood, National Women's Law Center, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, REFORM, National Domes- Domestic Workers Alliance, Baby2Baby, Center for Reproductive Justice, National Institute for Reproductive Health, and others.
BRIAN:Wow. Okay, sick.
GLENNIS:So-
BRIAN:Thanks, Olivia… GLENNIS: honestly, thanks, and not replace policies that protect women's reproductive rights. Tea.
GLENNIS:You know what? Thank you, Olivia. I hope to go next year.
BRIAN:See you there, bro.
GLENNIS:No boys allowed. Okay.
BRIAN:All right. Those are our vibes for the week. Thank you all so much for listening. Glennis and I will be back next week to check the vibes of American politics and break down all of these developing stories. If you can, follow, subscribe, and share Vibes Only with your friends. It is go time for the midterms, so we'll be back next week with more vibes
