I did a solo edition of The Strategy Session last night and it includes one of the most important advertising and political lessons you’ll ever learn: The Dog Food Test.
Rick, I always enjoy listening to you. You always speak very bluntly and I trust you. But SCOTUS is completely corrupted. They can’t be taken seriously on any level. They have captured the US government.
Great Substack Rick. Your solo work was great. Wish I read it last night but was amusing myself with a Substack. “I fucking Love Australia” before an earlier bedtime and early morning appointment. So funny and it comes with a glossary for the uninformed on the Aussie dialect. Needing to laugh because the redistricting initiated in the South is so damn racist, and dumb. But if FL helped itself with a dummymander then I am feeling better already
Last night Trump engineered a near sweep in Indiana
THIS is why my Irish pessimism consumes me when I read stories about "MAGA is collapsing"; or individual anecdotes with some randos "Me 'n Claude din't vote fer this." Yeah you did.
He's not dead. He's not dying. MAGA: Not them either. And when he does die, the MAGA bench is wide and deep. Not just at a national level, but Every. Single. Level. Of. Gov't. School boards, city councils, state legislatures, etc.
Is there a crack here or there? Are there a few who've - allegedly - turned on him? Yes and yes.
But they voted for the MFer 3 times, not because of a 23 page Chuck Schumer style memo or 800 page position paper. They voted for him because HE HATES THE SAME PEOPLE THEY HATE.
Hate is now as American as apple pie and Chevrolet thanks to 45+ years of Limbaugh, Fox News and neo clowns like Rogan and Tim Poole. Hate sells. Hate works.
"But we want to get you healthcare". HAHAHAH. This is a klan of peeps who wanted Trump to TAKE AWAY their own healthcare. "But ... but ... we want equal rights for everyone". Double HAHAHA. Clarence enters the chat.
If you're banking on a blue wave in Nov then endless investigations in '27-'28 where they'll be grilled and embarrassed and indicted ... that whole algorithm just took a hit. Other states will emulate the Indiana/Texas/Florida model. Will we take the House? Seemed like it was a near certainty. Now ... ?
Not only do I find the spending of a billion dollars for a ballroom to be obscene, no matter who the president is, but the real question is, "What happened to the $400M that Trump already got committed by the renters of the Trump Presidency? Does it go into the Donald Trump personal slush fund? Of course it does.
The hottest country in the world today.
Yeah, sure. We've lost the respect of decent countries around the world, have become the whores of the moneyed countries who buy influence, and we are now not a threat to the worst elements around the world, whether it be Putin or Kim or other authoritarian dictatorships.
If we have all the cards...
Then why is it the longer that the 'war' (undeclared) goes on, the more destabilized the entire region becomes and the longer and deeper that the associated coming recession will be. Let them talk about inflation. What's the price of gas now? How really long will petroleum prices stay up? What is the manufacturing cost shifts worldwide because of the oil shortage? Go back to 1973, and see what OPEC did and its effects.
The price of eggs...
Pay no attention to the number of chickens put down due to the avian flu. Supply and demand. Another economic policy that Trump has no concept of.
Dog food test...
Yes, if it tastes bad, most dogs won't eat it. Now some dogs will eat poopoo, but...
Now look at the inflationary price of dog food these days. Outrageous.
He's not immortal...
No, but he sure is immoral. Big time. Biggest immorality ever.
If you believe polls, you'd think we're on our way back to greatness. Trump: 35% approval, or whatever it is du jour. You'd think this ballroom will be stopped in its tracks any day now.
To me, despite occasional glimpses of hope, it feels like we're being steamrolled into permanent terribleness. Indiana just spoke last night. How many more red states will follow? The number is not zero.
But here's the kill shot: 75-80M American voters are cheering all this on, including the farmers who've lost their farms and seniors seeing Medicare and Social Security threatened.
Turns out ~45 years of hateful right wing media has mattered
I keep thinking about the 'holding all the cards' thing the Trumpies like to run with. A year ago, they said that Zelenskyy had no cards while Putin held all of them. Now look. Zelenskyy is taking the war into the heart of Moscow; he's cut security deals with countries in the Middle East for drone technology and expertise; he was at the European summit in Armenia [!!!] where it's clear the EU is ready to welcome Ukraine. Putin, meanwhile, is spending most of his time hiding out in bunkers; he's put his top generals under his personal 'security' detail; his personal staff aren't allowed to take public transportation and have had their homes wired with security cams. What was that about cards again?
Anecdotal evidence isn't worth much, but my hubs and I used to be center-left Dems, our best friends were center-right Rs; we're all solid independents now who've had enough of Trump and Trump toadies. The NC legislature can gerrymander every Democrats out of the map, and it won't stop the coming blue asteroid strike. The people of Hungary were faced with the same kind of election rigging, but they showed up anyway. In the largest voter turnout in Hungarian history. They're my inspiration going forward.
"The NC legislature can gerrymander every Democrats out of the map, and it won't stop the coming blue asteroid strike"
I hope you're right. But Indiana just spit the bit last night. How many states is that now? TX, FL, NC, IN ... there are others and there will be more.
That Indiana disaster last night has really shaken my confidence and it feels to me, an admitted Irish cynic, that everything we've been telling ourselves about that blue asteroid is in jeopardy. "But we've been overperforming in every out of cycle election". "But that district that was +16 Trump is now only +4"
OK. Maybe we're still good. But any serious, objective analysis says that's less likely than just a couple weeks ago.
The republican NC legislature gerrymandered 4 Ds out of their seat in 2024, and another this year. This is nothing new for NC. We even have a saying about it: NC isn't red, it's rigged. Yet, last cycle nearly the entire Council of State went blue, and we broke the R supermajority in the state house. Never give up!
My Mom took cognitive tests as she started succumbing to dementia. I think tRump is mistaking cognitive for IQ tests
Rick Great Job! 💥
Marco Rubio made a bad bet.
America does have all the cards. It’s a handful of Jokers. You can’t beat that!
Trim just the “Dog Food test” part of this and send it everywhere, so we can share it!
Why would anyone listen to, or rebroadcast a single thing that the malignant narcissist pathological liar says?
FUCK DONALD TRUMP WITH A POUND OF C4.
Thank you for your attention to this splatter.
Let's all stop saying, "I'm sorry." When what we mean is: GFY.
Rick, I always enjoy listening to you. You always speak very bluntly and I trust you. But SCOTUS is completely corrupted. They can’t be taken seriously on any level. They have captured the US government.
Thank you~
Great Substack Rick. Your solo work was great. Wish I read it last night but was amusing myself with a Substack. “I fucking Love Australia” before an earlier bedtime and early morning appointment. So funny and it comes with a glossary for the uninformed on the Aussie dialect. Needing to laugh because the redistricting initiated in the South is so damn racist, and dumb. But if FL helped itself with a dummymander then I am feeling better already
Personally, I like the Irish cynic. Of course I like most Irish cynics.
you’ve got to see this. Cops following opposing politicians now. In shorts no less. www.threads.com/@markdavisforcongress/post/DX_28rskXwA?xmt=AQF071sQORiCM5x1AQiBO60yaOGHoduH73Zbmgh1SYm6LI6lZDg1MkiX3OnRZLTt0nUTvgDo&slof=1
Today is a terrible day.
Last night Trump engineered a near sweep in Indiana
THIS is why my Irish pessimism consumes me when I read stories about "MAGA is collapsing"; or individual anecdotes with some randos "Me 'n Claude din't vote fer this." Yeah you did.
He's not dead. He's not dying. MAGA: Not them either. And when he does die, the MAGA bench is wide and deep. Not just at a national level, but Every. Single. Level. Of. Gov't. School boards, city councils, state legislatures, etc.
Is there a crack here or there? Are there a few who've - allegedly - turned on him? Yes and yes.
But they voted for the MFer 3 times, not because of a 23 page Chuck Schumer style memo or 800 page position paper. They voted for him because HE HATES THE SAME PEOPLE THEY HATE.
Hate is now as American as apple pie and Chevrolet thanks to 45+ years of Limbaugh, Fox News and neo clowns like Rogan and Tim Poole. Hate sells. Hate works.
"But we want to get you healthcare". HAHAHAH. This is a klan of peeps who wanted Trump to TAKE AWAY their own healthcare. "But ... but ... we want equal rights for everyone". Double HAHAHA. Clarence enters the chat.
If you're banking on a blue wave in Nov then endless investigations in '27-'28 where they'll be grilled and embarrassed and indicted ... that whole algorithm just took a hit. Other states will emulate the Indiana/Texas/Florida model. Will we take the House? Seemed like it was a near certainty. Now ... ?
Someone please tell me where I'm wrong
The Trump - Epstein Ballroom
Not only do I find the spending of a billion dollars for a ballroom to be obscene, no matter who the president is, but the real question is, "What happened to the $400M that Trump already got committed by the renters of the Trump Presidency? Does it go into the Donald Trump personal slush fund? Of course it does.
The hottest country in the world today.
Yeah, sure. We've lost the respect of decent countries around the world, have become the whores of the moneyed countries who buy influence, and we are now not a threat to the worst elements around the world, whether it be Putin or Kim or other authoritarian dictatorships.
If we have all the cards...
Then why is it the longer that the 'war' (undeclared) goes on, the more destabilized the entire region becomes and the longer and deeper that the associated coming recession will be. Let them talk about inflation. What's the price of gas now? How really long will petroleum prices stay up? What is the manufacturing cost shifts worldwide because of the oil shortage? Go back to 1973, and see what OPEC did and its effects.
The price of eggs...
Pay no attention to the number of chickens put down due to the avian flu. Supply and demand. Another economic policy that Trump has no concept of.
Dog food test...
Yes, if it tastes bad, most dogs won't eat it. Now some dogs will eat poopoo, but...
Now look at the inflationary price of dog food these days. Outrageous.
He's not immortal...
No, but he sure is immoral. Big time. Biggest immorality ever.
If you believe polls, you'd think we're on our way back to greatness. Trump: 35% approval, or whatever it is du jour. You'd think this ballroom will be stopped in its tracks any day now.
To me, despite occasional glimpses of hope, it feels like we're being steamrolled into permanent terribleness. Indiana just spoke last night. How many more red states will follow? The number is not zero.
But here's the kill shot: 75-80M American voters are cheering all this on, including the farmers who've lost their farms and seniors seeing Medicare and Social Security threatened.
Turns out ~45 years of hateful right wing media has mattered
We are unimaginably broken.
No one thinks you need a cognitive test Rick
I keep thinking about the 'holding all the cards' thing the Trumpies like to run with. A year ago, they said that Zelenskyy had no cards while Putin held all of them. Now look. Zelenskyy is taking the war into the heart of Moscow; he's cut security deals with countries in the Middle East for drone technology and expertise; he was at the European summit in Armenia [!!!] where it's clear the EU is ready to welcome Ukraine. Putin, meanwhile, is spending most of his time hiding out in bunkers; he's put his top generals under his personal 'security' detail; his personal staff aren't allowed to take public transportation and have had their homes wired with security cams. What was that about cards again?
Anecdotal evidence isn't worth much, but my hubs and I used to be center-left Dems, our best friends were center-right Rs; we're all solid independents now who've had enough of Trump and Trump toadies. The NC legislature can gerrymander every Democrats out of the map, and it won't stop the coming blue asteroid strike. The people of Hungary were faced with the same kind of election rigging, but they showed up anyway. In the largest voter turnout in Hungarian history. They're my inspiration going forward.
"The NC legislature can gerrymander every Democrats out of the map, and it won't stop the coming blue asteroid strike"
I hope you're right. But Indiana just spit the bit last night. How many states is that now? TX, FL, NC, IN ... there are others and there will be more.
That Indiana disaster last night has really shaken my confidence and it feels to me, an admitted Irish cynic, that everything we've been telling ourselves about that blue asteroid is in jeopardy. "But we've been overperforming in every out of cycle election". "But that district that was +16 Trump is now only +4"
OK. Maybe we're still good. But any serious, objective analysis says that's less likely than just a couple weeks ago.
The republican NC legislature gerrymandered 4 Ds out of their seat in 2024, and another this year. This is nothing new for NC. We even have a saying about it: NC isn't red, it's rigged. Yet, last cycle nearly the entire Council of State went blue, and we broke the R supermajority in the state house. Never give up!
One thing I forgot to mention, the most dangerous of all: Louisiana.
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to the Bayou State
Gov Landry just suspended elections. While they were in process.
THAT, more than gerrymandering, is their blueprint going forward
Does any serious person doubt that Trump will attempt this? If so, it'll be challenged by people like Marc Elias and others.
But they have the ultimate backstop in the Court Of Clarence. There is literally nothing they won't green light
I never give up, still active in local politics
Just a reminder “everything Trump does has failed” even his little idiots cult.🚯⭕️