A Waymo in The Thicket
Plus: Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back, the Kennedy Center gets an Air Force One upgrade & David Hogg makes DNC Chair cry (almost).
In some cultures, they sacrifice goats or chickens to higher ideals. Goats are the big ideals, chickens are the interesting but debatable ideals. In our culture, they sacrifice Waymos. That is what’s happening in the riots in L.A., proving once and for all that Waymos are the Nickelback of autonomous vehicles. Of course, self-driving cars and the technocracy they represent are just the tip of the iceberg.
The riots themselves are the battle royale between two guys who have no control over the situation. It all started when ICE raids detained 44 undocumented immigrants, sparking three days (and counting) of demonstrations. President Donald Trump mobilized the National Guard without California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s buy-in. Naturally, Newsom is using it as an excuse to lecture about the dangers of autocracy. Trump, on the other hand, is using it as an excuse to call him “Newscum” and putting “mayor” in quotes when talking about “Mayor” Karen Bass.
Personally, I think the President is losing his touch on his mean nicknames because “Mayor” Karen “Ass” was a real missed opportunity.
Welcome to the Gist List—a news roundup, interesting things you should know, and my thoughts leading up to today’s podcast episode.
Here’s what’s on my mind:
🎭 The Kennedy Center might get its own Air Force One upgrade.
⚖️ Kilmar Abrego Garcia is BACK.
🐷 David Hogg makes DNC Chair cry (almost).
🚅 California high-speed rail almost doesn’t waste billions of dollars.
🛰️ To the moon… and through it.
The Gist List
It's Opening Night For The MAGA Makeover Of The Kennedy Center (WSJ)
Just four months into Trump’s second term, his administration has begun its transformation of the Kennedy Center from a non-partisan cultural beacon of American creativity to a pawn in his campaign against “woke” ideology in the arts.
This comes at a time when ticket sales have plummeted, with theater subscriptions down 82% compared to the same period last year. Obviously, with numbers like that, conservatives are going to conserve and cut the arts budget, right? Wrong. Suddenly, it’s all hands on deck saving this cultural institution, and instead of giving the Kennedy Center the $40 million it usually gets, the Republican House Appropriations Committee has put forth a budget request of $250 million. They are also exploring potential funding from the Qatari government. Not a joke. Well, a joke, but something that could happen.
The Questions Raised by the New Charges Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia (NBC News)
Remember when Kristi “Bling Bling” Noem said, “There is no scenario where Abrego Garcia will be in the United States again.” Well, he’s back. He was recently returned from El Salvador, this time to face federal charges for the accusation that he smuggled thousands of migrants into the U.S. While it might be easy to brush this off as political theater (not funded by the Qataris), NBC reporter David Rohde is far from a Trump shill, and the indictment is very serious.
Lots of political commentators (not the Gist List, we’re a commentator commentator), not this sets back the Democrats’ narrative that Abrego Garcia was just a hard-working Maryland construction worker and dad. Obviously, when Sen. Chris Van Hollen went down to visit Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, this was not exactly the fight he was planning on getting into. Nevertheless, this is the heavy burden of having integrity. The stance was that everyone deserves due process, not just innocent people, because, of course, without due process, how would you even determine who’s innocent? I ask you, commentators.
'You Essentially Destroyed Any Chance I Have,' DNC Chair Told David Hogg in Private Meeting (Politico)
The Hogg Hunt™️ intensifies! DNC Chair Ken Martin recently told party leaders over a Zoom call that he’s unsure about his ability to continue leading due to the infighting. To catch you up, Hogg, despite a directive to remain neutral in primary elections, he's hatched a plan to oust incumbents, gotten into a verbal cage match with James Carville before a cajun-cooling-off period, and managed to earn himself an ultimatum. Martin, fed up with the antics, was on the verge of tears in a recording obtained by Politico and is no doubt wishing he had taken that job selling timeshares.
In a plot twist that would make Euripedes say "deus ex WHATchi-now?!?” the DNC might have found their escape hatch. An Oklahoma DNC member named Kalyn “Land of the” Free has filed a complaint alleging the February election of Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta violated party rules and disadvantaged women candidates. The DNC panel, presumably while trying not to look too eager, voted for a do-over. Now, you might think this is a convenient solution to their Hogg problem, but consider this: at a time when the DNC is trying to court male voters, ousting men from leadership positions sends a not-so-subtle message.
Would Losing $4 Billion From U.S. Delay California High-Speed Rail Construction? (Fresno Bee)
Aaaaaand the New York Times answers with the headline: Trump’s Proposed Cut Would Deal Serious Setback to California High-Speed Rail.
This high-speed rail, which has been in the works for years, is the next victim of the Trump administration’s budget cuts and is about to lose $4 billion in federal funding. This will set the project back decades, which sounds bad until you realize that the project has been facing delays for 17 years already. The federal government released a 310-page report claiming that the project has had $1.6 billion in change orders since 2023, missed deadlines for key equipment purchases, has unrealistic ridership estimates, and has no “viable path” to finish a major segment by 2033.
The shame of the story is that it was close to NOT being a huge waste of billions of dollars. Just inches away from being miles away from several more environmental surveys away from actually being finished. And by finished, we mean connecting Bakersfield to Merced, because Turlock to Oxnard was just a dream too far.
Private Japanese Spacecraft Crashes Into Moon In 'Hard Landing,' iSpace Says (Space.com)
The hardest of landings, in fact. Instead of slowing down and gently landing on the surface of the moon, the commercial company ispace’s lander went hurtling into the surface of the moon, destroying the equipment, science experiments and art project inside. To add insult to injury, this is not the first time this has happened. This ispace mission followed the failure of its first one in April 2023, which also crashed due to a misread altitude sensor AND has also been upstaged by Japan’s national space agency, JAXA, which successfully landed its SLIM spacecraft in 2024.
Funny You Should Mention: Chris Turner
Comedian, freestyler, and archaeology grad Chris Turner joins the show to explain how a middle-class British kid became one of the most dazzling improv lyricists in comedy. From his early days writing one-liners to mesmerizing crowds at the Comedy Cellar with rhymes about chlamydia, Hispaniola, and Jerry Springer, Turner charts a path that makes no sense—until you see it live. He talks about striking in polite accents, fax machines causing drive-by shootings, and why freestyling is more like tennis than chess.
There’s more where that came from. Listen to The Gist, and upgrade to Pesca Plus for the ad-free version.
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